Surgery on torn Biceps tendon.

[Roger#1]

Well, I just wanted to see if anybody has had surgery on the Proximal Biceps tendon, which is the tendon that connects to your shoulder. My biceps tendon has been torn for quite awhile without my knowing, and I found out by my doctor about 2 years ago. I decided to not have surgery and just play with the pain in my shoulder. Somedays were worse then others but it was manageable, but now I can't take it anymore. I went to my doc today and will have surgery next week sometime. I have heard it takes about 3 months for rehab and everything, but I want to know how long it will take until I can start serving and playing matches. I am 25 and don't think it will take me long to regain my strength, so I am hoping I can start playing and serving at about 3 to 4 months.

 

[charliefedererer]

What does your doctor say? Serving is going to put enormous stress on the area of your repair and it is going to take a long time to get full tissue healing. I would think you and he need to go over the progression of therapy/workouts and progression on the tennis court from short sessions to hitting up to full serving and playing. Almost surely that is going to have be an on going series of evaluations and modifying your routines as the weeks go by in the post operative recovery phase.

 

[Roger#1]

He said he could tell me everything after my surgery. In order for him to tell me for sure he said he needed to see if there was anything else he needed to clean up in my shoulder during surgery, then he would know how long everything would take. So I guess I have to wait.

 

[kenshireen]

shoulder rehab takes quite a while... Particularly if you want to get back to your old level of intensity on serves...I would be amazed if you have a torn proximal tendon and are back to normal in 3 months... There are also inherent risks in any surgery.... I have some torn tendons, including a labral tear...
Yeah, certain shots (lunging extensions) are extremely painful so I hold back on these...lose a point here and there but the pain is worse if I go after the shot. I can serve at 75% of my normal speed without pain...BH's hurt a bit but not excruciating..

I have chose to live with this. No guarantees on surgery.

 

[ab70]

OS normally artificially talk about shorter re-hab time bfr surgery than after... I had slap tear done last decemeber and then siad 3 month bfr and 6-8 month after... a year after I am serving at 70-80% pain and FH came back, 2 things that bothered me bfr surgery... The short head bicep tendon is actually more critical for shoulder than the long head... i.e. people do fine with tenodesis which is cutting long head.

 

[Roger#1]

Alright, thanks for the info. Hopefully I won't be out for 6 months. I have a good doc that has done some sugeries for players from the Texans and some other professionals. My mom had rotator cuff surgery with him a couple years back and was out 6 months until she was back on the court serving. I guess I will let you know what he says after surgery to have a better picture of how long it will take.

 

[Roger#1]

Alright, had surgery yesterday the 16th and had a Type 2 SLAP tear repaired, which is to re-attach the labrum and anchor the long head of the bicep tendon. Everything went well and I have a Block in place that is hooked up to some ball that pumps out 8ml an hour to numb my arm for about three days. I am supposed to have my arm in a sling for 2 to 3 weeks, and start PT on Monday. Doc said I should be playing tennis in 3 months.

 

[mike53]

Excellent. These guys are usually right as long as you do exactly what they say.

 

[Roger#1]

Well, I had my 6 week post op check up with my doc last week and was cleared to start hitting again. Pretty much just hitting for now and he said I can start serving after another 6 weeks. My doctor actually thanked me for recovering so fast and said " Thanks for making me look good". HAHA. I have hit about three times in the past 6 days, taking one day off after a hitting session, and felt pretty sore after the first time but just hit yesterday and my arm feels great today. Have been doing PT 2 times a week for 6 weeks but doing everything at home. Doctor told me to go to PT a couple more times and wrap it up. I am really happy with how the surgery went, and really surprised with how fast I recoverd.