Transcript

Voice- The Bodyshop with Jennifer Black and Dr. Steve is brought to you by Allegheny Chesapeake Physical Therapy.

Jennifer Black - Good evening and welcome to this weeks edition of The Body Shop with Dr. Steve. Today we will talk about biceps muscle rupture. This sounds painful.

Dr. Steve - Surprisingly patients often have pain and then when it ruptures the pain is gone. The biceps has two muscle bellies. One is the long head of the biceps; this crosses the shoulder joint and the second is the short head. If a person tears the tendon of the long head of the biceps they often end up with the Popeye arm appearance.

The good news is in most cases it doesn't need surgery. People can live without the long head of the biceps. John Elway won two super bowls after tearing his long head of the biceps. He didn't have the tendon repaired.

Before the tendon completely ruptures there can be a great deal of pain. Once the tendon tears people usually tell you they fell much better (after the acute sx's are gone). When the tendon rupture there is immediate pain, but this goes away within a few days. There may be a black and blue mark in the area of the biceps and the appearance of a Popeye arm.

Some minimal Physical therapy can have you back to normal activities quickly; by making sure you have full motion and strength. You can still have functional strength without this muscle. So a Popeye arm isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Jennifer Black -Thanks Dr. Steve, if you would like more information or would like Dr. Steve to answer your question on air call him at 1-800-NEW SELF or contact him at www.alleghenychesapeake.com