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Strained bicep muscle

Posted: June 23rd, 2017, 1:38 pm
by bungeejumper
Honestly, I'm never going to drink water again. :lol: There I was, standing at the supermarket checkout, about to hoist a nine litre pack of Buxton's finest out of my trolley and onto the belt, and for some unknowable reason I decided to use my left arm rather than my right. Twang, it went as I turned, and three weeks later it's still healing only very slowly, and anything more than modest use tends to set it back.

It's not a debilitating pain - just a "don't do that too often, pal" sort of warning whenever I lift heavy things. The pain is concentrated in the middle of the bicep muscle and well below the shoulder tendon, where the usual trouble happens, so I really don't think I've damaged any tendons - I've just bruised the muscle. T'interweb says it takes up to eight weeks to heal with rest. Blimey, I'm off camping soon! I can't have that!

We have a tube of Voltarol gel somewhere around the place. Anything else that works well?

BJ

Re: Strained bicep muscle

Posted: June 24th, 2017, 12:07 pm
by UncleEbenezer
Moderator Message:
removed text. Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. OP wants advice on his injury. Raptor.

Re: Strained bicep muscle

Posted: June 25th, 2017, 9:57 am
by bungeejumper
LOL, no offence E, I can see the funny/absurd side of my post as well. There's no better way of drawing attention to one's physique than to complain publicly about it. ;) You may safely assume, though, that my huge muscle is currently in a sadly disappointing condition. :lol:

Seriously, if there's anyone who can advise on how best to speed up the recovery, t'would be appreciated. Rest it or exercise it? I don't really want to bother the doc about what seems to be a fairly humdrum problem.

BJ

Re: Strained bicep muscle

Posted: June 25th, 2017, 11:12 am
by redsturgeon
I would rest it but ensure that you keep the mobility in the shoulder. I came off my bike a couple of years ago and hit my shoulder quite hard. It recovered quite quickly but a few months later I noticed pain when reaching behind which was caused by me losing some of my normal range of mobility during the healing process. So I'd just keep the whole area moving as much as possible while not exerting any pressure or lifting weights.

John

Re: Strained bicep muscle

Posted: July 19th, 2017, 10:27 am
by bungeejumper
A belated thanks to all who responded to my post. Eight flipping weeks after lifting those six dratted 1.5 litre bottles of water, the arm is finally getting less tender and I can lift stuff without wincing too badly. The usual advice is that a stretched/torn muscle will fix itself in three to six weeks, but that was reckoning without the urgent need to uproot a sizeable tree stump in my mate's garden. (I'd have hoicked it out using just my right arm, but you know how it it is, one doesn't like to show off. :D )

Anyway, it's taught me a lesson. The next time I feel the need to lift and twist a nine kilo weight at arm's length with my 'wrong' arm, I'll send the instructions down the line first so that it can brace itself for action. Better still, I'll let the wife do the shopping.

BJ