It never ceases to amaze me the level of pain a professional athlete is forced to endure. Granted they are compensated extremely well, but the turnaround from injury time that is expected requires pushing painfully through a fast paced and frequent physical therapy program. Camron Maybin, an outfielder for the San Diego Padres just ruptured his bicep tendon. A ruptured bicep tendon is when the bicep tendon, which attaches the biceps to the radial bone, is torn from the bone. The visual I give my patients with a complete tendon rupture is as follows. Picture your muscle as a window roller-shade pulled all the way down to the windowsill where you attach it. If you could release it at the lowest portion as your pulling it down, the drape will immediately roll back up. That is how a muscle responds to a complete tendon tear. Post-surgery there is a grueling and sequential physical therapy and hand therapy program. For most patients, the 3-month point may mean beginning to use free-weights or increasing resistance with closed chain exercises. The first 2 months focus primarily on stretching, range of motion, scar massage and pain modalities. In Camron Maybin's case, the reports seem to indicate he is expected back in 2-3 months. Not begin his baseball activities, but expected to be back on the field of play. As tough and resilient as baseball players are, even that seems to be a stretch.

Avi K, PT