Pec Injury

Options
EccentricDad
EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Anyone ever hurt their pec? How long did it take to heal and what did you do? Is it at 100% what it was before injury or did you lose some function?

I have an injury that I've been treating for over a week now with ice and compression and it's still very tender. Any advice you can give me?

Replies

  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
    Options
    Bump. Really need advice here.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Options
    Is this still from the chinup bar experiment? It hasn't been that long, really. You pulled it pretty good, and it could take 4-6 weeks to heal completely. Earlier in the year I pulled a muscle in my upper back pretty good. There were many exercises I could do, but the exercise where I strained it was off limits. Some days it felt healed but as soon as I put real tension on it I could feel that it wasn't right. So I just worked around it for a little over a month. After that, stronger than ever.

    Just give it rest and time to heal. If you can work around it with different exercises where you feel NO strain on the affected area go ahead. But don't try to fight thru it or tough it out. It will just prolong it. Rest and time.

    BTW, I'm assuming you know enough about yourself to know the difference between a tear and a strain/sprain. Still have relatively full range of motion, no excessive swelling or bruising, hurts, but not so painful that you can't stand it. If you're getting those things, it's doctor time. If not, rest is best
  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
    Options
    BTW, I'm assuming you know enough about yourself to know the difference between a tear and a strain/sprain. Still have relatively full range of motion, no excessive swelling or bruising, hurts, but not so painful that you can't stand it. If you're getting those things, it's doctor time. If not, rest is best

    I have full range of motion, no swelling at all (that I can tell), no noticeable dents, hurts but not like a throbbing, more like a tenderness. Not as bad as last week, but still bad enough that I want to ice pack and numb it out. And maybe I'm over nursing it, but when I do something that gives me that sudden, sharp, tender feeling, I'll ice it then wrap it. What does it sound like to you?
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Options
    Still sounds like a strain to me. Rest it. I'd probably stop icing it so much, but then, I never use ice as much as I should be. But you're probably at the point where heat will promote healing more than ice. Or switch them at 30 min intervals. Either way, it's probably going to take several weeks to heal. Not unusual. If you follow sports you see guys out or limited by soft tissue injuries for several weeks all the time.

    Rest. It should start feeling better each week. If no improvement in a few weeks see someone about it.
  • whiskeycharged
    whiskeycharged Posts: 400 Member
    Options
    Curious- What exercise were you doing when the injury occured? How heavy was the weight?
  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
    Options
    Still sounds like a strain to me. Rest it. I'd probably stop icing it so much, but then, I never use ice as much as I should be. But you're probably at the point where heat will promote healing more than ice. Or switch them at 30 min intervals. Either way, it's probably going to take several weeks to heal. Not unusual. If you follow sports you see guys out or limited by soft tissue injuries for several weeks all the time.

    Rest. It should start feeling better each week. If no improvement in a few weeks see someone about it.

    Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it.
  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
    Options
    Curious- What exercise were you doing when the injury occured? How heavy was the weight?

    I'm a bean pole and I was showing off to my wife that I bought the "Iron Gym" from the local supermarket. I did 2 full pull ups on it but I must have used the wrong form because I've been in pain since. How heavy was the weight? Oh about 160 lbs at the time. How much am I used to lifting? My daughter weighs 46 lbs.....
  • whiskeycharged
    whiskeycharged Posts: 400 Member
    Options
    Curious- What exercise were you doing when the injury occured? How heavy was the weight?

    I'm a bean pole and I was showing off to my wife that I bought the "Iron Gym" from the local supermarket. I did 2 full pull ups on it but I must have used the wrong form because I've been in pain since. How heavy was the weight? Oh about 160 lbs at the time. How much am I used to lifting? My daughter weighs 46 lbs.....

    Yeah, I don't know how it's possible to injure your pec in a pull-up exercise but it sounds like you found youself in snap city.

    I would lay off the weights and machines until you feel 100%. Stick to cardio in the mean time.

    Based on how it happened, I can't imagine it being too serious.

    Get some icey hot cream and rub it on the sore area while you sleep. Try and lightly stretch too in the morning.

Categories