Help

[Prs2studio]

I tore my right bicep yesterday. Severe pain and google scares me. Got my arm in a sling. Drs said could be up to 4 months of healing. I'm scared to death and missing my guitars already

 

[wardog]

ouch!!!!!!! Hang in there buddy. Take the Time to heal you won't regret it. ACL tear last august, just getting back to running like i should be this month. Starting all over again:bawling:

 

[MOBirds]

Yuck! I tore ligament in left hand in April, had cast for about 6 weeks, came off May 30th and was so stiff from cast I wasn't able to play at all for a few weeks. I'm just now getting back into things, but slow going at my age. Hang in there, and do NOT push it, some things just take time to heal and getting ahead of that will only lengthen recovery. Any way to still do some left hand technique practice while right heals? I was at least able to continue working a bit on my right-hand finger picking patterns while left healed up.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Bummer.

 

[CantankerousCarl]

Stay away from Google and WebMD and best wishes for a swift recovery.

Ever since I read a few years back that Paul Westerberg had suffered permanent damage in his hand as a result of trying to remove wax from a bottle with a screwdriver (!?!) I have been uber-paranoid about hand / arm injuries.

I think I am getting a little bit o the carpel tunnel from all this damn typing, sometimes I have to take a break between computer keyboard and fretboard.

 

[Prs2studio]

I am doing fretboard work. It's hard cause I generally play over 5 hours a day

 

[John Beef]

I separated some of the tendons from the bone in my left ankle back in December. Still healing. Still can't run, even just a six step jog while crossing the street and I feel it. I keep aggravating it too, like a few weeks ago I was hiking in Canyonlands while wearing one of my kids on my back, turned my ankle on a rock, felt like it set me back a couple months. However, luckily, I can still play guitar. I even played a gig while wearing the boot.

 

[Daniel]

What, exactly, do you mean by "tore my right bicep(s)"? If you tore the tendon, you may need to have surgical repair depending on your lifestyle.

I tore (90%) my right distal biceps tendon (the tendon that connects the muscle to the bone just below your elbow) a few years ago. The orthopedist gave me two options; 1) Have outpatient surgery to repair it, followed by 3-6 month recovery while the repair took hold. or 2) Don't have it repaired and maybe the pain would eventually go away but suffer permanent 60-70% loss of strength in that arm. Surgery needs to be done within 10-14 days of the injury because the tendon immediately starts to shrink and the torn ends scar-over. I had the repair and the pain was gone the next day. I babied it during the recovery period and six months later it was good as new.

The proximal biceps tendons attach the muscle to the bone at your shoulder. You have two of these, thus the "bi" in biceps. If you tore one, you can get by with the other, so long as you never tear it, but you will have some loss of strength. The main thing is to see a good, well-recommended orthopedist, not a family doctor or urgent care doctor.

 

[MOBirds]

"The main thing is to see a good, well-recommended orthopedist, not a family doctor or urgent care doctor."

++++ This!

I assumed by the Drs said comment that you saw an Ortho, but on second thought that may not be correct. If not, definitely see an Orthopedic Surgeon. That's where I got my wrist casted. If mine didn't heal up with that, I'd have needed MRI & possible surgery. If it's a tendon injury, you'll need an MRI to see how severe it is.

 

[NomadMike]

Ever since I read a few years back that Paul Westerberg had suffered permanent damage in his hand as a result of trying to remove wax from a bottle with a screwdriver (!?!) I have been uber-paranoid about hand / arm injuries.

I'm enjoying the benefits of doing hard core martial arts for a few decades. All those little breaks in my hands that didn't bother me in years past have become painful and I'm getting a bit of arthritis. Joy, joy, happy, happy.

 

[László]

I'm immortal and know nothing of pain.

I don't know where that came from, but I said it.

 

[Tedder]

Have some patience man! As someone with 3 ACL surgeries on the same knee, multiple fractures in the right hand from martial arts and a broken neck as of last May I can't stress enough how important it is to take care of yourself during the healing process. Listen to your doctors and don't be a hero and you'll have the rest of your life to enjoy playing music. Screw it up and you'll be paying for it for the rest of your life. Listen to what they tell you!

 

[alantig]

Well, when Les Paul destroyed his arm in a car accident, he had the doc set it so the hand would rest where he could play guitar! :rock:

Can't add much to the advice you've already gotten - see a doc, and get it taken care of right.

Good luck!