Thread: Pec Tear

This is probably a long shot, but has anyone here torn their pectoralis? I did mine three days ago benching. Ultrasound showed that it is mainly micro tears, and it seems most if not all of the tendon and muscle is still attached to the arm. So at this time at least surgery seems unnecessary.

Anyway, has anyone else torn their pec? How long did it take you to recover, and did you ever get back to lifting weights of the same magnitude? What did you do for recovery and rehab?

Thanks in advance guys!

James.

I had a good buddy that tore his pec.

The bad news is, it can be a bitch to heal, and take a long time. The good news is, there's no reason that it should impede your future lifting, if you behave yourself and take it easy until it's healed; if you push it, and keep tearing, you're going to build scar tissue and then you're SOL.

If you can find one, you may want to consult an Active Recovery Technique (ART) specialist. They do wonderful rehab based on movement, which will keep things from healing short and needing to be restretched after (as often happens when you're cast after a bone break). If you can't find an ART guy, try to find out who handles the sports rehab for any larger baseball team (AAA is fine--it doesn't have to be a trainer for a pro team) and see if you can get into see him. A football guy would work too; you're looking for someone used to handling the muscles around the shoulder (as with pitchers and quarterbacks).

That's what I would do, anyway. Fortunately, I've gotten away with only a tear my shoulder cuff--and that was a big enough PITA to heal...

Eh, a pec tear isn't that bad to deal with on the scale of shoulder injuries...as long as you didn't loosen a rib from your sternum.

A RTC is worse to deal with since it screws up your glenohumeral mechanics IMO.


Any physiotherapist worth a darn should be able to get you through this with minimal difficulty.

-Keep the reps high, and the weights super light during workouts; no more than light fatigue at the end of 3 sets of 20-30 and no increase in pain/symptoms.
-Do cross friction massage from the sternum to the approx area of the pec insertion on the humerus.
-Do lots of 15-30 second duration pec stretches, and you should be fine.

I feel your pain Jimbo. I'm an avid bodybuilder, just coming off a major injury. I broke my back, A pars fracture at L5. I now have a screw, two steel plates and a bone graft. I was out of the gym 5 months prior to the surgery which I had on Jan 21st. I just got back to the gym in June. Very slow going, but I am getting my strength back. I'm sure you've heard of Muscle Memory, it's true. You come back fast. I'm already seeing gains.

I also tore my pec, a micro tear a few years ago from Cable crossovers. It hurt like hell, and I had large lump in my chest. I got scared, thought it was tumor. It turned black and blue and only kept me out about 2 weeks or so. Mine actually looked worse than it was....
Of course, low weight, High reps, take it easy for a while.....
Rich

So your rock hauling sport finally caught up with you?!

I haven't torn my pec but I did tear my gastrocnemius. Aside from the loud pop, it was very painful and it took a LONG time to heal. I agree with everything Vulcan said. You can fully recover but you have to be very patient and diligent with it. It's going to be a long haul, and if you overdo it, your recovery will take even longer.

Take it easyl
Take it very easy!

Good luck Jimbo.

I guess I should have asked if the micro tears were intramuscular, or specifically where the pec major joins the bone--or did they tell you?

If it's between the two muscles, it's probably not that big a deal. If it's tearing off the bone, I would be really careful with it. My buddy's was somewhat more than micro-tearing, and it was off the bone, so it was a pretty big deal for him.

Well, all I have done at the moment is repeatedly interrogate the ultrasound guy about attachment points. I have some decent swelling and bruising is starting to come out, but only on the pec, not the arm or underarm (yet). The initial thinking is that it is intralobular microtears. There were a few haematomas in the scan - that is to be expected I guess. However, there is a worrying dent near the shoulder at the top of the pec which I want to look at when the swelling dissipates.

So I have not seen the doc about the results yet. I have a good physiotherapist who I am also getting the scans sent to, so between them and the trainer at the gym I think I should at least get a picture of what happened.

Thanks for the input guys - I really appreciate it. Man, I would not see my worst enemy with the pain I felt. I actually went into shock driving to the doctor's as well, which was unpleasant.

And I will definitely take it very easy. If I manage to escape this with no surgery, I will consider myself a very lucky man!

James.

Yeotch. That sounds like you did a hell of job! Take 'er easy and get it healed up properly!

I'm not an expert in this stuff, but James, seriously patience is going to be the name of the process.

I used to do heavy weightlifting a long time ago. Then I shattered my kneecap. The morning of my surgery was the last day that I ever did relatively heavy squats. I'll never forget the last time I ever loaded three 45s, a 25, and a 10 on each side of the bar. I did three sets of 10 reps with those 385 pounds for the last time in my life. I loved the way the bar was bent over my shoulders and nothing made me feel stronger than doing powerlifting. Since the surgery, I've never been able to do squats with more than 225 and even that has often lead to problems. It is a limit I don't dare pass. My knee just won't allow it.

Hopefully you will have a better outcome, but it will take a lot of slow, light weight, high rep, PATIENCE.

Thanks guys. I am prepared to do whatever it takes, and if that means slow and steady, then that is what I will do. Believe me, anything relating to chest work holds no fascination for me at the moment!! lol

Who knows? Maybe this will be the catalyst for me to pursue my lifelong dream to get legs like Tom Platz!

James.