Biceps Tenodesis

I am 3 weeks today post op. Bicep tenodesis, subacromial and coracoid process decompression. The pain hasn't been as bad as expected or as bad as what I've heard from others who had the surgery, thankfully. I was injured at work and after having a brief respite from the pain with 3 cortisone shots and physical therapy, I elected for the surgery. Overhead work is an occupational hazard of mine so I couldn't bear to just work through the pain. I pre-habbed for months, not getting in any serious swimming so I am looking forward to just doing a kick set; the stationary bike and sling is driving me crazy, I have one more week with this albatross around my neck. Did anyone get in the water while they were still in their sling? Just kicking with injured arm by your side? Although I suppose another week out of the water won't kill me. And the underarm incision... Mine feels very tight, I have been massaging with vitamin E as the physical therapist recommended. Anyone else have any advice on caring for the incision site? Any feedback is greatly appreciated, I have thoroughly enjoyed going through this thread and knowing I am not the first nor the last swimmer in this boat.

With Md’s approval, I was in water once stitches were out. Arm remained passive at all times, did very light kicking using snorkel. It was a little risky, and I had a few painful movements, but it was good to have rom without gravity

My experience with the biceps tenodesis is that I was at high risk for the new anchor site going bad if I put any tension on it. No flexing the arm at all. Now that I am a year out, no biceps pain at all. I also had my rotator cuff done at the same time. I still have rotator cuff pain if I am swimming and doing resistance exercises during the week. I can get to zero pain if I just rest and stretch. My therapist says it is due to my posture. If I can get my shoulders back all the time, I could do activity without pain.

To All the posters from 2006, Background: Suffered from bicep tendonitis as far back as college (45+ years). Since 2007, it gradually worsened until December 2018 when, during yoga stretch, the LHBT (long head bicep tendon) totally detached. Instantly - no more pain which was nice. But, I worried about the remaining short head bicep tendon being at higher risk of tearing because it is now carrying the entire load. So, scheduled an Orthopedic consultation which was last week. The Orthopedic doctor told me there was no reason to have the LHBT re-attached. This is what Rich said he was told in an early post in this thread. Some literature supports this approach. I am curious if your doctors explained pros and cons or just did the surgery. Other than the "popeye" arm, there does not seem to be any consequence to the detachment. Thanks for sharing your experience. Paul

Yup. I've had tenodesis on both (2015 and 2017), and I'm faster now at 41 than ever. They're a little loose, maybe, but nothing good exercises can't manage. No pain.

Surgery still might not be needed I have been swimming over a decade with a shoulder that used to fully dislocate even in my sleep. Swimming has actually prevented surgery. However my other shoulder I did have surgery, and it took over 18 months for it to improve better than before surgery. I still have indentations (2 years later and probably will always have) where the surgeon drilled through to repair the labrum, perform the tenodesis, and chondroplasty

A few month ago I suffered a SLAP lesion to my right shoulder. It happend while I was doing an intervall set of freestyle. I always swim fast intervalls using a hybrid stroke and the arm I injured was the shoulder driven side. I knew immidiately that I tore my labrum, which was confirmed later through mri. I don´t know for sure whether I tore it due to the hybrid stroke or if I would have torn it too if I swam differently. What really struck me was, that it happend out of the blue. The days and weeks prior to that I didn´t have any biceps tendon or shoulder pain. It really was that from one moment to another it tore, without any signs of announcement prior. Right after the injury I was in pain for many month. The pain was located just behind the AC-joint spreeding into the anterior deltoid and the upper trapezius. My shoulder has became very loose in the antrior-superior area of the shoulder since then, which I guess is because the long head of the biceps works as a humeral head depressor and in the absence of it (SLAP-Tear, tenodesis, tenotomy) the capsule stretches out, but I am not 100% sure if that is correct. So my question is: is here anyone who is swimming successfully with the absence of an intact biceps tendon (tenodesis, tenotomy, SLAP-Tear)? Furthermore can you tell me whether your shoulder has become loose in the anterior-superior area? Did you or do you still have pain on top of the shoulder? I am still under 30 and can´t have surgery right now, because I just started into my first job after university. I feel like my current condition is somewhat similar to those who had the tenodesis procedure.

I had the surgery because the tendon was torn and yanking at the labrum with resulting weakness.

Chronic pain, MRI, found it was 90% torn already. Two years later, other side, same thing.

Why did you guys choose to have the tenodesis procedure done? Did you have chronic inflammation or maybe did the LHB tendon just tore one day? I am still trying to figure out if I could benefit from a tenodesis as well. A full SLAP repair is out of question for me, since I believe there are too many complications with it.