Upper Arm Injury

[jayshonsykes]

So I finally got the boat out in Colorado and went wakeboarding for the first day today. I got a new 2011 Ronix Kai Mana and was testing the waters and fell backwards and kinda landed on my arm and it got ripped underneath me. It hurt when it happened and hurt the rest of the day, but now late at night I am in excruciating pain. If I hold my arm out straight I can't lift it anywhere close to shoulder level. It's not necessarily my shoulder that is in pain, it's just my upper arm like above the bicep but below the rotator cuff. It's a pretty intense pain and I would rather not blow money on a doctor if there's anything I can do to heal it or if I figure out exactly what's wrong.

Has anyone else had a similar injury? It's impossible to lift above my shoulder even if I use my left arm to bring it up. It's not dislocated and it isn't broken. So it could be a tear. Any advice would be awesome. Thanks.

[da Liks]

me, go to a physical therapist!!!! you probably have a tear IN, or TORN off a tendon in the biceps. this NEEDS attention.

[mseller]

on my backrolls lately I have felt that my lead arm kinda gets yanked when I land and have started to feel a strain in my bicep and in my inner elbow. Usually stops hurting a couple hours later. been recurring for about the past 3 weeks...i'm thinking I may rest it for a week then start trying to work out to build up muscle strength

[ky1e]

Well I'm not a doctor or anything...oh wait I AM (sorry had to say it ). The first test we do for a possible torn rotator cuff is called the drop arm test. Essentially I would hold both of your arms slightly at or above shoulder level dead weight, and then drop. If you can keep it straight, very low probability you tore anything in your rotator cuff, if it drops and you squirt a tear, its MRI time which you don't need an expensive ortho copay to do. Any walk in clinic or your PCP can write a script for an MRI. Another choice if you don't have insurance and don't feel bad taking advantage of the system, goto the ER where there is no upfront payment.

You also should get a sling to take the weight off of it and of course RICE and NSAIDS like motrin or alleve for swelling. You can only use the sling for a short period of time (1-2 weeks) because you are risking frozen shoulder syndrome which basically means you will lose a lot of motion in the shoulder, possibly permanently.

A good physical therapist or a Sports Medicine doc are two great non surgical options because they can hopefully pinpoint which tendon has the tear and they can help strengthen those tendons to make up for the torn one. They can also do an ultrasound to see if there is a tear. Although not as accurate, its a hell of a lot cheaper than an MRI

[da Liks]

do it!

[cubbies017]

Sounds like you tore your bicep. It sucks to spend the money but you are going to want to go to the Doctor's.

[jayshonsykes]

Thanks a lot for all the advice guys. I know I am a huge noob on this site so it's good to see I wasn't shunned. I have been resting lately and icing it and taking medicine etc. I actually went riding today but went easy and just used my left hand for the rope. Still hurts and I still can't rotate my shoulder all the way around without feeling some pain in my upper arm. I feel it has gotten a tad better, but I think it's time I go in and see what's really up.

Ky1e - I really appreciate the help!

[jebuske]