Biceps Tear Types, Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
The bicep muscles are crucial for arms and help you bend your elbows and twist the forearms. They have three tendons to attach the arm to your shoulder. The long-head (proximal) tendon attaches your bicep to the shoulder socket top, the short-head tendon attaches your bicep to the coracoid process (set below the collar bone), and the third (distal) tendon attaches the biceps to your radius (a long forearm bone). When a biceps tears, it means one or all tendons are damaged. It’s also known as bicep tendon rupture. In this situation, you will feel pain, bruising, swelling and weakness in your arm. Depending on the severity, this can prevent you from doing daily activities. So, you must treat the torn bicep tendon as soon as possible. Here, we will share everything about bicep tendon tear, including its treatment. So, stay connected till the end.
Biceps Tear Types
First of all, we need to understand the types of tears. Depending on their location and severity, there are 3 types of biceps tears. Learn about them in the following section.
Proximal Biceps Tendon Tear At Shoulders
This bicep tendon rupture occurs when the long-head tendon is injured. This tear starts with the tendon gradually wearing down but can even occur due to an injury. In this tear, you might be able to use your arm; however, the bicep tendon will damage other shoulder parts.
Distal Biceps Tendon Tear And Tendonitis At The Elbow
When the elbow is pushed straight against a heavyweight, this stress can lead to the distal biceps tendon tear at the elbow. It’s an inflammation in the bicep tendon near the elbow that causes a complete tear, and your arm loses strength. and can worsen with repetitive tasks.
Tendonitis
The final among the biceps tears is tendonitis – inflammation or irritation of the long head or proximal tendon. It can lead to microtears in the tendon tissue, which can lead to chronic tendon impairments and can weaken the rupture.
Biceps tear Symptoms
From the above section, you learned about different types of bicep tendon tears. This section will outline the symptoms of torn bicep tendons.
- A sensation of pop or tearing at the time of injury
- Warmth around the injury
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Pain or ache throughout the arm, specifically at the injured spot
- Arm weakness
- Difficulty in turning your arm
- Fatigue
- A bulge in the upper arm
What Are The Causes of Bicep Tearing?
There are 2 causes of bicep tendon rupture:
- Lifting something heavy, like dumbbells, when performing dumbbell curls or falling on your arm
- Overuse of tendons.
Torn Biceps Treatment
Until now, we talked about different bicep tendon tears and what leads to torn bicep tendons. This is the final and most important section of the blog and shares treatments for biceps tears.
Take A Lot Of Rest
Avoiding exercising, lifting, or holding something heavy and using the arm as little as possible gives it time to recover.
NSAIDs Medication
NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are over-the-counter medications that reduce inflammation by blocking prostaglandin, which is a hormone causing inflammation. This can also reduce the pain you might be experiencing from bicep tendon injuries.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy for biceps tear would include a series of motions designed to help heal your tendon injury. When you are healed enough to move your arm, the doctor might also suggest some exercises to do at home. These exercises can include flexing and extending your arm and rotating it.
Bicep Surgery
If none of the above-mentioned measures improves bicep injury or more than half of the tendon is torn, it’s good to opt for surgery. Many doctors recommend surgery as a first-line treatment for tendon teas. There are two types of bicep surgeries: biceps tenotomy and biceps tenodesis. It can take 3 to 4 months to recover from surgery, so you should consider it as the last treatment option.
Overcoming A Bicep Tear Injury
Bicep tear isn’t common and happens to 3 to 5 people per 100,000 every year. However, it can be serious and disrupt your regular lifestyle. Bicep tendon tears generally occur in men aged over 30 years. If you are suffering from tendon tears, follow the above-mentioned tips and treat your arm.
Vikas is a travel enthusiast who likes exploring nature and historical sites along with a keen interest in technology, sports, and marketing. He vouch to provide informative and engaging content for his fellow readers to enlighten them with his words.