I had surgery on July 14 of this year. I am just about to hit the three month mark. I had a type 2 SLAP lesion with ruptured bicep. I've been in physical therapy for two full months and was just ordered to six more weeks. Things have been progressing in what seems to be a slow way, but overall pretty well.

Here's my question: my bicep tendon has yet to relax. It is SO tight and full of knots. It causes great pain at times and causes a lot of pressure in the arm. Does anyone know much about this? I asked my OS, who stated that it was "normal" at this stage of recovery and that it would be the last thing to heal.

Also, I have gotten heavily back into running to the dismay of my PT. She finally stated that it was ok as long as I could continue doing what she wanted me to do in therapy. Are there any runners out there who had this surgery? What were your experiences after surgery with getting back into it?

Happy healing,

Tammy

I am a runner and play volleyball. I had a soft tissue biceps tenodesis on March 19, 2008. It took my bicep tendon quite a while to relax. I am still not 100% pain free but getting closer. I actually found that running helped relieve my pain. My PT encouraged me to start running again six weeks after my surgery for that reason.

What did you have done with your surgery?

Sometimes running can help and sometimes not. When you run, you generally hold your arms at about a 90 degree angle, so it is kind of contracted the whole time. The question to ask is whether your arm feels better after running. If your PT is not spending the time massaging the biceps and breaking down any scar tissue consider going to get 30 minutes of work on it by a qualified professional. Are you doing any biceps strenthening?
Was the short head of the biceps torn? If not, you should be able to some biceps curls without affecting the repair. Also lying on a foam roller with arm out to side should get a good stretch of the tendon and muscle. You can start out with a pillow under the forearm if the stretch seems too much. Maybe you are way beyond all this,but these are my suggestions. I would think you could be more aggressive with getting the knots out at this stage for sure. Sharon

I had repair to the labrum with bicep reattachment. The bicep had become completely detached, which would seem to explain why it is taking so long to heal, perhaps. I am not sure if that means the short head was torn or not. I just know the bicep was detached.

I am doing a lot in physical therapy, and since my last visit when I complained that the bicep was too tight for it to be three months post surgery, she has been aggressively massaging it and has added a LOT of new exercises for bicep strengthening. I do bicep curls and lots of theraband things, plus many more things that all seem to be pulling at the bicep.

As far as for how I feel after I run, it varies. When I first started back, my shoulder muscles would contract in such a way that I was unable to even move the shoulder without excruciating pain. However, I found that if I just kept at it every day I was able to go further and further before the spasm would occur. Finally I have gotten to where I hardly have any while running. I do experience soreness the morning after a run, but I am hoping that is going to improve.

The deal with my therapist was that I could keep running as long as the pain didn't keep me from being able to do whatever she wanted me to do in therapy and at home. So far so good...

Thanks for all the advice!
Tammy

Tammy your PT is your best friend and is good because she/he obviously is taking the right steps to remedy the issue. Keep up this work until the knots are no longer present. It sounds as if running may have contributed to the extra tightness, although you did work thru most of the poor muscle recruitment in the beginning. You see if we have pain or are protecting a weak/repaired structure, we will most often use the muscle incorrectly. Trying to reeducate the muscle can sometimes be very difficult. Just a thought, before and after running you may want to monitor the knoting to determine if it gets more tight, if so massage and ice following your run every time so you will continue to improve instead of backslide with each run. Although this forum is great for finding out similarities to problems, everyones surgery and issues are different, always, always tell your PT about any issues, they should be your first place to go for advice. Sharon

Sharon,

Thanks so much. I completely agree that I have an awesome physical therapist. I couldn't have asked for anyone better because she is very thorough and attentive to detail. I do not present normally and am very senstive and she is able to adjust things to meet my individual needs.

I will keep that in mind about monitoring tightness before and after running. I hadn't thought about that. Great idea!

I probably have about five weeks of therapy left, three times a week. I will have been going for three and a half months by then and I can't imagine needing more beyond that, although anything is possible. I HOPE that the bicep will relax by then!

Have a great day!
Tammy