biceps? injury

Tom Braun

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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

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Bjoern Alber

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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 Björn

Tom Braun

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Hi Björn, 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

Bjoern Alber

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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 Björn