Biceps Tenodesis

yep i have the $4000 plastic screw as well had it done in may 2013 by no means is this an easy operation but you can get through it make darn sure you get the polarpak ice machine with the shoulder cuff i pushed rehab pretty hard and was back swimming..first kicking only then 1arms then both arms free and finally fly i've done pretty good since then ;) steve

yes...had it done in 2013. Labrum tears, decompression, etc.. Reattached the bicep. You'll be uncomfortable for a few weeks. Like most surgeries, work hard in rehab and extend it if you can. My recovery path was like sickfish's above. Back in water kicking , swimming one armed after a month, up to 40,000 yds a month in 3 months. Full throttle after that. It's better than new

I had the procedure done in November 2015. I was 37 at the time. My PT cleared me to get back in the pool (breaststroke and kick only) in December. By the end of December I was able to cautiously swim freestyle. By April I had lifetime bests in the 50 and 100 fly. YMMV :) I did not have a longitudinal tear, but in my experience, and according to the surgeon, it's a relatively easy procedure to recover from. Just listen to your PT.

great news! and yes always more is found

Surgery is complete!! They found more issues with my shoulder than expected. Original MRI just showed a biceps tendon tear, but they found some deep partial rotator cuff tears, labrum tear and bone spurs. MRIs don't show everything! I started a blog to outline the surgery and recovery. Hope it helps someone else that had all the questions I did. forums.usms.org/blog.php Interesting journal article on biceps tendon pain. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../

Hi Jordan - I just found out I have a longitudinal tear of the long head of my biceps too - just discussed my surgery options this morning. I read your blog (very helpful!) and am wondering how you are doing now a month later?! Thanks!

I have had a very long recovery. Just swam in my first meet this weekend (USMS Nationals). Virtually no swim training because I just couldn't get my arm to do what it needed to do without pain. Not pain that I couldn't tolerate, pain that told me I was really irritating and impinging my rotator cuff. I am not messing with that again. Not going to swim through the pain and hurt something again. My physical therapists have been wonderful. They now tell me I had frozen shoulder after surgery. My surgeon said I progressed slower than most. Nobody knows why, just some people do. Maybe because of the extent of the surgery, maybe because I am a big baby. Some people are just more inflamed and develop more scar tissue. All biceps pain I had before surgery is gone. The tenodesis worked well. Just the lingering rotator cuff / impingement pain. Flexibility is still not back to normal, nor is the rotator cuff strength. It is just now to the point where I can hold my arm above my head and streamline off the wall without pain AND to where I can hold it stable. In February, just pushing off the wall and holding my right arm in a streamline position was a workout. I am still having some impingement pain. PT says that if I can get a bit more strength in the rotator cuff (specifically external rotation) and better flexibility (specifically in internal rotation), the shoulder should sit in the proper position and the impingement + associated pain will go away. I didn't know recovery would take this long. I have seen others stories and they were back in swimming their best in much less than a year. Would I have surgery again if I could go back in time, knowing how it would go? Still not sure I would. Hopefully my answer will be yes in a few more months.

In March of 2018 I had a bicep tenodesis, a subacromial decompression, removal of bone spurs, and repair of a small rotator cuff tear. My tenodesis repair was a type where they place the relocated bicep tendon into a sleeve and pull it into a hole in the humerus with stitches; there was no peg involved like others have mentioned. I was in a sling for 6 weeks and restricted to light duty until week 13 when the tenodesis repair was considered fully healed. After 6 weeks in a sling my right arm had atrophied to the point of looking very thin, and I was somewhat concerned at that point. I am back in the pool 5 days a week now and slowly regaining ability, at about 50% yardage and intensity, doing a lot of kicking. Streamlining is still difficult and painful. I am guessing I have another 3-6 months to go until I am back to normal, but it feels good to be back in a swimming routine. I believe I can feel the effects of the decompression in the sense that my shoulder rotates freely and I feel no impingement or pain. I was told that I should do rotator cuff exercises every other day for the rest of my life or at least while I am actively swimming. I still go to physical therapy twice a week. I asked the therapist why the process hasn't been as painful as many describe, and I was told that I had an good outcome because I stuck with my prescribed post-surgery exercises and that I was physically active prior to surgery. I am confident I will be back to 100% at some point. The worst thing about the timing of the surgery was that I'd just swam my first meet in ~35 years and had a really fun time, and then I had to pause to fix a bum shoulder. I can't wait to go to another meet. Sorry if that's a wall of text but I thought some might like to know what the process is like. My understanding of rehab is that if you slack off and ignore the process for any length of time, it can really diminish your outcome.

Rt shoulder surgery May 4: LH bicep tenodesis, extensive debridement, chondroplasty w/t 3 anchors. I feel about 60% recovered and expect a good outcome. On the other hand, my Left shoulder now needs serious repair. Years ago it would dislocate, but I managed to nurse it back to decent function through strength and swimming. Unfortunately it loosened up from daily activity while the other arm was in brace. I am relieved to have my right arm step back up and come back to life. It was frustrating trying to function with my free arm slipping around in its socket, popping, and crap. I actually look forward to fixing this one.

My Dr. was very clear about my not getting in the water until after the sling was off, and then no pulling with that arm until OKd by PT. I don't have any advice about the incision site. Mine is still a little tingly 6 mo after surgery.