How to figure out if I tore my pec?

[HTexan]

Are you taking steroids?


I've never met a natural guy that tore his pec on bench presses. I've met a few guys that took steroids that have though.

Never done steroids, and I had a small partial pec tear in college. It isn't hard, willpower + working out too much, too heavy, and too stupidly.

[Pete Nice]

Never done steroids, and I had a small partial pec tear in college. It isn't hard, willpower + working out too much, too heavy, and too stupidly.

Was it diagnosed?  How long we're you out of training?  What did you experience, and did it require surgery?

[HTexan]

Was it diagnosed?  How long we're you out of training?  What did you experience, and did it require surgery?

Yes, by an RN I knew. Couldn't afford to go to the doctor.
I think it was about 4 months. But that was also becuase I was scared to hurt it again.
No, surgery. I was lucky. I hear most tears require it. But I'm not a doctor.

[Pete Nice]

Yes, by an RN I knew. Couldn't afford to go to the doctor.
I think it was about 4 months. But that was also becuase I was scared to hurt it again.
No, surgery. I was lucky. I hear most tears require it. But I'm not a doctor.

Did you have bruising and swelling? Was the pain on the outer pec into the armpit area?

[oldtimer1]

Not a doctor. I had a complete bicep rupture. Bicep rolled up to my shoulder. If I understand this correctly you can have a complete tendon rip off, a partial tendon tear where it's still attached or even a muscle tear where the tendon is still attached.

See an orthopedic surgeon. See one that specializes in that joint. There are just too many that claim they do it all. The orth practice I went to had a hip guy, a knee guy. foot guy and a shoulder to the hand guy. He will examine your joint and probably order an mri.  If you have a partial tear I would imagine that's a quick fix operation and quicker to recover from than from a complete tear.

Hopefully you just have a bad strain or a slight muscle tear.

[tommywishbone]

Relax.

Ice the area a few times daily. If it was a pec tear, within 24-36 hours you will see plenty of bruising. It will be unmistakable. If it is a tear, you'll be able to train around the injury fairly easy. Yes, your chest training will suffer as will your shoulder training.

Drug use or not using any drugs is completely irrelevant to the issue. The color of the shirt you were wearing while bench pressing is just as important.

This is my training partner.  He did this 10 days ago. This is a text book grade II pec tear. He did it bench pressing 405 x 3.  He felt the "Pop" on the last rep.

[Pete Nice]

Relax.

Ice the area a few times daily. If it was a pec tear, within 24-36 hours you will see plenty of bruising. It will be unmistakable. If it is a tear, you'll be able to train around the injury fairly easy. Yes, your chest training will suffer as will your shoulder training.

Drug use or not using any drugs is completely irrelevant to the issue. The color of the shirt you were wearing while bench pressing is just as important.

This is my training partner.  He did this 10 days ago. This is a text book grade II pec tear. He did it bench pressing 405 x 3.  He felt the "Pop" of the last rep.

Ouch! Is he going in for surgery soon?  I have developed some minor bruising on the bicep area today, but overall my swelling is down a bit.  Based on a lot of the experiences I have been reading about, Im pretty sure I tore my pec, and will require surgery.  I was able to an earlier appt with an orthopaedic experienced in the procedure and I am sure he will set up an MRI, or at least I will request one. 

[MAXX]

i tore a pec...trust me..you will know...you turn black and blue

bench

not Always the case

Layne Norton tore his for example and no bruisin

[_aj_]

I hope you are icing it.

Might as well accept it right now... your heavy benching days are over.

And your days of shoulder pain and lack of gainz in the pec department are over too. Bench press is great for one thing: bench pressing.

[MAXX]

Might be a strain, just close to being a full tear.

Rest your pecs for 4 weeks or more for the tendon/muscle to heal and come back using lighter weights to see how it feels. Try pushups from the knees after 4 weeks of rest. Then you will know if it was bad or not. But rest for now.

[Overload]

I've had a similar thing happen years ago and it was when i was warming up with 225.  Felt and heard a few pops and instant pain.  Swelled up in a few hours and some bruising set in the next day.

It was a partial tear that didn't require surgery, just rest and time out of the gym.

Your Doctor will be able to tell you very quickly how bad it is.

Has the same thing happen to the long head of my tricep twice.

If you aren't a power lifter, just use DB's on flat bench.  I haven't used a BB on flat bench in years and my shoulders feel a lot better.  The vast majority of pec tears happen while doing BB flat bench.

[oldtimer1]

And your days of shoulder pain and lack of gainz in the pec department are over too. Bench press is great for one thing: bench pressing.

So true. The bench is one of the most over rated exercises. It has caused more joint problems than any other weight exercise. It decreases flexibility in the joint among other things. If you want to know who is a good athlete with power and speed see how much they lift a barbell off the floor to over head. If it's a good poundage they will have a great vertical leap and explosive sprinting speed. The bench tells you nothing. I have seen guys who couldn't bench 225 but had so much power they hit the heavy bag like a ton of bricks. I have also seen 405 bench press guys that hit the heavy bag like a little girl. The bench is recently use exercise maybe 70 years.

[Pete Nice]

I've had a similar thing happen years ago and it was when i was warming up with 225.  Felt and heard a few pops and instant pain.  Swelled up in a few hours and some bruising set in the next day.

It was a partial tear that didn't require surgery, just rest and time out of the gym.

Your Doctor will be able to tell you very quickly how bad it is.

Has the same thing happen to the long head of my tricep twice.

If you aren't a power lifter, just use DB's on flat bench.  I haven't used a BB on flat bench in years and my shoulders feel a lot better.  The vast majority of pec tears happen while doing BB flat bench.

That's good to know.  I have a very tight sensation in top corner of my left pec, almost in to the armpit area.  It seems to really tighten up right there as I try and move my arm over my head.  I don't notice any knots in or around the peck, although there seems to be a bit of an indention in the armpit area, but it seems to be due to the swelling. Did you have an MRI done to get diagnosed?  Was your bruising and swelling severe?  Did everything eventually get back to normal?

[goku]

it sounds like a partial tear in the muscle belly itself. the same thing happened to me recently actually but in the anterior delt - whole area swelled up baf and continued to do so the next day.
but after that it subsided and was back to normal after rest.

give it a couple of days and you'll know more.
a tear in the muscle alone no point in getting surgery as they normally heal themselves pretty quickly unless its really severe, in which case you'll know you've torn it bad because you can't move it without a lot of pain!
difference between soreness and pain.

a tendon tear requires more force to occur and motion is restricted. bruising is common but not always the case - i tore my pec tendon and whole area was black and blue because of bleeding beneath the skin.
in a couple of days you'll have more of an idea. but rest it, ice it and see how you get on.

[LittleJ]

I've had a similar thing happen years ago and it was when i was warming up with 225.  Felt and heard a few pops and instant pain.  Swelled up in a few hours and some bruising set in the next day.

It was a partial tear that didn't require surgery, just rest and time out of the gym.

Your Doctor will be able to tell you very quickly how bad it is.

Has the same thing happen to the long head of my tricep twice.

If you aren't a power lifter, just use DB's on flat bench.  I haven't used a BB on flat bench in years and my shoulders feel a lot better.  The vast majority of pec tears happen while doing BB flat bench.

What a beast

[Mawse]

Thanks for the reminder why I quit benching, Tommy

After a grade 1 muscle tear a couple years back I decided it just wasn't worth the stress, and my form was so good I remember TA asking 'how the hell did you get injured benching like that?"

eventually it gets you

[tommywishbone]

Ouch! Is he going in for surgery soon?  I have developed some minor bruising on the bicep area today, but overall my swelling is down a bit.  Based on a lot of the experiences I have been reading about, Im pretty sure I tore my pec, and will require surgery.  I was able to an earlier appt with an orthopaedic experienced in the procedure and I am sure he will set up an MRI, or at least I will request one. 

Well- he may not require surgery. There is zero visible muscle retraction.  Lots of inflammation still but as it goes down it's looking pretty good.  Minimal pain on movement. ROM even right now is 90 percent. I bet there will be no surgery. 

One more specialist still to see. I'll keep you posted.

[Pete Nice]

Well- he may not require surgery. There is zero visible muscle retraction.  Lots of inflammation still but as it goes down it's looking pretty good.  Minimal pain on movement. ROM even right now is 90 percent. I bet there will be no surgery. 

One more specialist still to see. I'll keep you posted.

That's what is so interesting about these injuries.  Layne Norton had no visible bruising at all and said he had a major tear and it put him out of commission for 6 months, but your friend has an absolute demolished looking injury and may not get surgery.  It almost seems that there is not enough information out there to predict what the best potential option is.  Main concern is that it doesn't heal properly and there is an issue down the road. 

Thanks for the update, Im quite interested in hearing his prognosis.

[HTexan]

Thanks for the reminder why I quit benching, Tommy

After a grade 1 muscle tear a couple years back I decided it just wasn't worth the stress, and my form was so good I remember TA asking 'how the hell did you get injured benching like that?"

eventually it gets you

I can't quit benching, I know it isn't the best chest exercise but it is fun as fuck.

[Mr Anabolic]

That's good to know.  I have a very tight sensation in top corner of my left pec, almost in to the armpit area.  It seems to really tighten up right there as I try and move my arm over my head.  I don't notice any knots in or around the peck, although there seems to be a bit of an indention in the armpit area, but it seems to be due to the swelling. Did you have an MRI done to get diagnosed?  Was your bruising and swelling severe?  Did everything eventually get back to normal?

You seem to want people here to tell that nothing is wrong and it will heal all by itself.

GO TO THE DOCTOR!

[DanielPaul]

What's your pain on the pain scale?  Pick one 

[Pete Nice]

You seem to want people here to tell that nothing is wrong and it will heal all by itself.

GO TO THE DOCTOR!

Of course I want people to tell me that 

I have an appt with an Orthopedic guy tomorrow evening, and just in case have a second opinion doc set up in 12 days. 

[kyomu]

Heavy bench is totaly meaningless.
It wont make your pec thick and it cause injuly only.

[trapz101]

actually you should put more weight on bar and try to rep out few more to see if it's really a tear

[HTexan]

You seem to want people here to tell that nothing is wrong and it will heal all by itself.

GO TO THE DOCTOR!

Of course, the only reason I didn't go, like I said, is becuase this happen in college and I couldn't afford it.