[IanP]

Injured myself a couple of weeks ago , no obvious incident that I noticed but a strange lump appeared on the upper part of my right bicep.  Carried on climbing initially but noticed some discomfort and weird stiffness. 

Didn't look or feel right so (unusually for me) went to doctor who quickly diagnosed a torn long head bicep and arranged a ultrasound which I've just had.  The radiologist confirmed the diagnosis, also looked at my shoulder didn't see any further damage so back to the doctor now then probably physio and hopefully good recovery.  Not causing me much problems already and tbh feels less serious than it originally sounded.

Think this a not uncommon injury for older climbers so I've got a couple of questions for the ukb hive mind:
- does anybody have any experience with this injury, useful advice, hopefully positive stories regarding recovery?
- I'm thinking that it's probably worth getting physio from someone specialising in climbing/sports injuries.  Does anyone have any recommendations in the Manchester / Cheshire area or potentially Sheffield (my daughter lives there so go fairly regularly)?

[mrjonathanr]

I’d go to see someone at Harris and Ross in Wilmslow. They’re all excellent there and sportsmen/women in their own right. Andy Renshaw has treated me a few times, he’s spot on, lots of Premiership experience under Allardyce and Kllopp. ££, but you get what you pay for.

If you want a climbing physio, Andy McVittie (Biscuit on ukc) is very good and does sessions at Rockover in Bolton  and Boulder UK in Preston.
https://www.processphysiotherapy.co.uk/

Hope you get it sorted quickly.

[IanP]

Cheers, Wilmslow would be pretty convenient, I'll have a look.

[gollum]

I tore my long head on my right arm about four years ago. Physio said I could either get it repaired or just leave it, I chose to just leave it.
I managed a one arm pull up on it about three weeks after I did it and had virtually no loss of strength, except if my hand was very twisted with my little finger being well above my elbow. Slight discomfort if I do lots of bicep curls or use a screwdriver for a long time, otherwise no detriment whatsoever.

I may her just got lucky. I did tape it for about a year with thick rock tape, but that was because my wife didn't like the look of it.

[IanP]

I tore my long head on my right arm about four years ago. Physio said I could either get it repaired or just leave it, I chose to just leave it.
I managed a one arm pull up on it about three weeks after I did it and had virtually no loss of strength, except if my hand was very twisted with my little finger being well above my elbow. Slight discomfort if I do lots of bicep curls or use a screwdriver for a long time, otherwise no detriment whatsoever.

I may her just got lucky. I did tape it for about a year with thick rock tape, but that was because my wife didn't like the look of it.

Thanks Gollum, good to here a positive recovery story  .  A couple of other people I've spoken to have similar experiences so feeling pretty positive.  Also now looking forwards to doing a one arm pull the near future 

[Reprobate_Rob]

Hey Ian, not a colleague of Strongpalms are you? If so he might have conveyed some of this already.
Ruptured mine in Feb this year at nearly 42. Luckily had medical cover though work. Saw a consultant (Matt Ravenscroft at the Alexandra in Cheadle) within a few days, went under the knife two weeks after the injury. Physio at Harris and Ross (Dave Williams, Man City youth squad etc. They are all good there from my experience) commencing 2 weeks post op. Signed off by Matt at 12 weeks post op and told to go hard on the weights and get back climbing. I'm probably exactly where I was pre injury now, probably stronger in the shoulders after all the work I've done on them. Tiny bit of stiffness left at extremes of rom overhead. Otherwise 100% now at 4 months post injury.
Looking at invoice that came through to the insurance folk it would have cost roughly 3.5k to self fund.

Should add, as it doesn't sound like you'll be getting it reattached, when I asked Matt about it he said if I didn't go for surgery I would have roughly 5% loss of absolute strength. Just fatigue a bit quickly, particularly when performing screwing actions, as that's how the pair of muscles work. The short head doesn't rupture, so when I asked if I should avoid anything before going under the knife his response was 'well you can't rupture it any more, so carry on as you were'

[hongkongstuey]

Injured myself a couple of weeks ago , no obvious incident that I noticed but a strange lump appeared on the upper part of my right bicep.  Carried on climbing initially but noticed some discomfort and weird stiffness. 

Think this a not uncommon injury for older climbers so I've got a couple of questions for the ukb hive mind:
- does anybody have any experience with this injury, useful advice, hopefully positive stories regarding recovery?
- I'm thinking that it's probably worth getting physio from someone specialising in climbing/sports injuries.  Does anyone have any recommendations in the Manchester / Cheshire area or potentially Sheffield (my daughter lives there so go fairly regularly)?

Hi Ian

I tore my right longhead about 5-6 years ago whilst wakeboarding (letting go of the handle is a really good idea if you take a big slam at about 30 km/h....). I wasn't climbing much at the time so never bothered getting it repaired. Came back to climbing more seriously a few years after this and have since gone on to send some of my hardest routes/problems so don't think it's really a major hinderance to continued progression etc. The monstrous bicep bulge does get some strange looks though...

Hope yours recovers quickly

Stu

[Adam Lincoln]

Injured myself a couple of weeks ago , no obvious incident that I noticed but a strange lump appeared on the upper part of my right bicep.  Carried on climbing initially but noticed some discomfort and weird stiffness. 

Didn't look or feel right so (unusually for me) went to doctor who quickly diagnosed a torn long head bicep and arranged a ultrasound which I've just had.  The radiologist confirmed the diagnosis, also looked at my shoulder didn't see any further damage so back to the doctor now then probably physio and hopefully good recovery.  Not causing me much problems already and tbh feels less serious than it originally sounded.

Think this a not uncommon injury for older climbers so I've got a couple of questions for the ukb hive mind:
- does anybody have any experience with this injury, useful advice, hopefully positive stories regarding recovery?
- I'm thinking that it's probably worth getting physio from someone specialising in climbing/sports injuries.  Does anyone have any recommendations in the Manchester / Cheshire area or potentially Sheffield (my daughter lives there so go fairly regularly)?

What are the chances of you and Ant both doing them within a few weeks of each other!?

As for physio, Andy Mcvitie is highly recommended. Not one of these physios who believes in stopping climbing with an injury if you can help it. His webpage is process physiotherapy. Quick google and it will come up.

[SA Chris]

aka biscuit on here.

[IanP]

What are the chances of you and Ant both doing them within a few weeks of each other!?

Indeed mad coincidence, I sent Ant I message after I got the result from my scan confirming total rupture and he had done his the day before!

Thanks all for the advice, I had a good session with James Walker at. Sheffield Climbing Clinic and was cleared to climb.  Other than the strange shaped bicep I'm feeling almost no impact on my climbing, just need to get fitness back now.

From my (and Ant's) experience it appears that a long head bicep rupture is a surprisingly insignificant injury for majority of people, I'll chalk that up as a result