Welp, had a distal bicep tendon rupture and surgery soon after a week ago. Out of sling now and PT just involves contracting/extending arm and a little squeeze ball to invrease arm bloodflow. A bit discouraging not anywhere near to being able to extend arm fully. For those that had this surgery what was your recovery experience before being able to get full range of motion back and be able to resume active lifestyle(lifting, yard work, etc.) Any other tips or suggestions is much appreciated!

Also, is a collagen supplement worth it to help tendon recovery after surgery? Something like this below, or is it all snakeoil?

https://www.costco.com/applied-nutrition-liquid-collagen-drink-mix-4000-mg.%2c-30-tubes.product.100367277.html

No research that I've seen to show it boosts post op recovery. But it's one of those "if it doesn't hurt…l situations. If not cost prohibitive, toss it in your coffee. Or shake with creatine.

I've had both rupture- same injury as yourn.

I think some of the recovery time depends on what type of repair you had. Both of mine were repaired using a cordial button.

My left one, it took a full 3 months to be completely released. The bone has to heal around the tendon - which is six weeks of healing. After that it was rehab once a week to get the range of motion back. I was back to lifting after 3 months. Competed in a powerlifting meet about 3 months after that and had regained most of my strength that I lost.

My right one, I tore the bicep tendon and an elbow ligament. Due to the ligament being repaired, it was a solid 6 months before I could do really anything. I was in a sling and then a brace for the full 6 months. I also need a full replacement of the right shoulder so I never got back full range of motion.

I've known several people who have had different surgeries and were back quicker than I was. My doc went with the cordial button because I was a competitive powerlifter and he wanted to make sure that the surgery would hold up to what I was going to put it through.

I don't know about collegen. I know it is claimed to help with joint pain but (spitballing this) I wouldn't think it would help due to the injury not actually being in the joint.

Three things I highly recomend are:

• Keep working out. I bought a safety squat bar so I could squat one armed. I used a lot of machines to workout my good arm. The workout will stimulate natural growth hormones and testosterone production which will help to keep you losing as much strength in your injured arm and speed healing. Post surgery would be a good time to supplement with HGH and steroids - at an intellegent level.
• Make sure you are getting plenty of protein in your diet. It is slow digesting and can provide you a more constant source of energy to provide for healing.
• Listen to you PT doctor. Ask him if you can do the exercises at home or if there is a limit you should do.

The two best pieces of advice I can give you that are unrelated to healing is:

• Pillows are your friend. Prop one under your arm to get comfortable.
• Stretchy pants are the way to go. I had a difficult time buttoning my pant. I bought a couple of pairs of stretchy old man jeans. They were a life saver.

Tore mine in 2018 in bjj, after surgery was training again at the 3 month mark. Overall wasn't a bad experience at all.

Keep working out. I bought a safety squat bar and did lifts with my good arm. There's evidence that your body does try to keep symmetry so working out one side does help stimulate the other. My torn bicep of course atrophyed, but I feel overall I was good!

Eat red meat too!

Hah, Hoose just beat me to the punch!

Had my distal bicep tendon repair surgery exactly a year ago. By a great Aggie doctor, Dr. Adam Hines in Allen. He did a fantastic job! Anyone in Collin County ever needs an orthopedic doctor, cannot recommend him enough. Had near full range of motion back within a week.

I think within 6 weeks I was back to yard work and very light lifting. Within 10 to 12 weeks I was starting to build my strength back up to where it was pre-tear.

I was drinking protein shakes with collagen peptides every morning. I feel like I recovered quickly. But I was also very diligent about my PT, which I think is the most important part.

The only benefit that collagen products have is the proportion of amino acids that are most similar to tendon proteins. So if you're deficient with your overall protein intake, it would likely be helpful. It certainly won't be harmful.

But if you're getting in a consistent amount of high protein (which you should after any major surgery), then your amino acid needs should be well covered for repair while recovering.

I think the evidence on whether collagen is more effective than a good diet is a bit shaky still. There's some weak evidence currently, and hypothetically it seems that you can absorb dipeptides, and tripeptides, which could be beneficial in healing, but the data is still out. Before it was thought that we only absorbed monopeptides (protein digested fully into individual amino acids).

I think right now all evidence supporting collagen supplementation mostly looks at skin and wrinkles. Not sure if anything looks at muscle recovery or tendon recovery. From a muscle recovery standpoint, it would seem just based off the AA profile of collagen, probably not better than whey protein.