Hi, I've got an injury in the left biceps close to the elbow. The pain appeared the day after trying a route with hard undercut moves. After resting for 10 days I felt some pain again when pulling on an undercut. It is slightly painful still a couple of days later. I really notice there's something wrong when I do the pro-/supination exercise with elbow at 90 degrees rotating my underarm hand holding a hammer - there is some clicking and the tendons don't seem to slide smoothly, and it hurts. - Do you think it could a muscle/tendon tear or rather an overuse problem? - Can I accelerate recovery with ice etc./ stretching? - What would be a good exercise to stretch this part of the biceps? - If I have to rest for a longer period of time, would it still be possible to do static deadhangs on a fingerboard on slightly bent arms to maintain my fingerstrength or is this a bad idea? - What about rehab exercises? Thanks in advance, Tom
Hi Tom
One of the biceps muscles major functions is to forcefully supinate the hand. You certainly have an overuse syndrom maybe even a partial tear. No hanging with partial flex - careful even with straight arms! An antiinflammatory drug (Voltaren), warm packing (gel bag etc.)- NO ice!!, Rest fully until there is no pain when moving without load on the biceps. Stretch with straight arm above shoulder level, gripp, palms forward, a doorpost- push your shoulder forwards and rotate away. Rehabilitate with biceps concentration curl- be careful to go from pronatd to suppinated hand as you flex fully. No dynamics till you feel fully recovered
Best of luck
Bjรถrn
Hi Bjรถrn, 2 months later my biceps isn't much better...the MRI showed some inflammation/swelling around the radial tendon insertion but no other damage. Bicep curls with a low 2,5 kg weight start hurting after a while, and so does the hammer supination exercise afterwards, and the tendon seems to 'jump' slightyl at one point i.e. not run smooth a little bit when doing this. I've had 8 sessions of physiotherapy, doing no deadhangs or climbing, just trying the curls from time to time. At least push-ups don't seem to hurt anymore. I read in another post that there is sometimes a fibrin deposit which you treated with Heparine. Would this be visible on the MRI? Could this be a reason for inflammation? Thanks for any tips, Tom
Hi Tom
No I dont think this is a fibrin deposit but rather an inflammation in the muscular insertion - since I guess you tried the antiinflammatory drug- the stepup would be to use that in conjunction with electric stimulation and ultrasound stimulation. A specialized sport medicine physician might be able to give a shot of cortison mixed with lokal anaestetic - it might help but it also increases the risk of an actual tear. Once again I think you must see a qualified sport medicine physician - you lost a lot of time allready
Best of luck
Bjรถrn
biceps? injury