I have noticed recently that when I start curling weight that feels heavy a lot of tension is put on the tendon in my bicep. It also produdes quite a bit when I do it. It also sometimes "twinges" or twitches sort of when i contract the weight up. I have tried to lift with low weight to try get a better mind to muscle connection but it doesnt seem to have helped.

It is mainly in my left arm which 3 years ago I also broke both of the bones in my forearm, the ulna and radius. I have a scar on both sides where they had to do surgery. Im not sure if they cut any of the forearm muscles but I am thinking that this traumatic event may be the cause.

Is it possible that the tendon is trying to take the workload instead of the bicep? Or what do you think the problem could be?

This is the tendon im talking about

I think you are suffering from Biceps tendonitis, Biceps tendonitis most commonly occurs due to repetitive or prolonged activities placing strain on the biceps tendon. This typically occurs due to excessive lifting, or bending of the elbow against resistance (such as performing chin ups or bicep curls). Occasionally it may occur suddenly due to a high force going through the biceps tendon beyond what it can withstand.

You need to go through an examination from a physiotherapist to diagnose this, i'll advise you to see a physiotherapist as soon as possible and you should avoid going to the gym for few days or avoid doing exercises which causes strain on biceps like close grip pullups, bicep curls, etc as it can worsen your injury.

Contributing Factors:

- Joint stiffness (particularly the elbow)

- Muscle tightness (particularly the biceps)

- Inappropriate or excessive training

- Inadequate warm up

- Muscle weakness

Treatment:

- Ice or heat treatment

- Soft tissue massage

- Electropathy

- Stretches

Exercises:

- Bicep Stretch:

Begin this exercise with your back and neck straight and your arm supported behind you on a bench or table. Gently lower your body, allowing your arm to move further behind you until you feel a mild to moderate stretch pain-free. Hold for 15 seconds and repeat 4 times.

- Static Bicep Contraction:

Begin this exercise with your elbow at your side and bent to 90 degrees, palm up as demonstrated. Push up against your other hand, tightening your biceps. Hold for 5 seconds and repeat 10 times as hard as possible without pain

Hope it helps.

Source: Internet

Connor,

You need to proceed very cautiously here. The tendon you refer to is your distal bicep tendon and unlike the proximal heads of the bicep (where it joins the shoulder) that have a tendon each for the long and short bicep head, the distal end (elbow side) has just one tendon and if it ruptures you will need surgery to repair it. This will put you out of commission for 6 months and could take up to 1 year to be back to 100%.

What you are experiencing is possibly bicep tendonitis which means your distal tendon's outer sheath has micro tears and is inflammed. Your tendon protrudes because your bicep muscle is flexing and pulling on it when you curl and possibly because you had a broken forearm and it probably is not 100% set right post break. I broke my right arm just above the elbow when I was 9 years old. The doctor couldn't put a pin in it so he had to set it by hand. My arm is not 100% in the correct position and my distal tendon sticks out a bit on the inner side of my arm and my tricep sits a bit inward causing my tricep tendon to rub against my elbow when I do tricep work and sometimes I get tendonitis. I have had to be careful over the years to make sure I didn't make my elbow and tendons weak. The doctor said I would have arthritis in my elbow but as usual for doctors who don't pump iron he was wrong :-)

If your distal tendon is aching, you need to avoid all preacher curl exercises as these stress the hell out of the distal tendon. When you do any bicep curling exercises, you need to lighten the load and the volume until the tendon feels better. If you deadlift, you need to avoid mixed grip and use only pronated grip (palms facing in) and you need to be careful doing back exercises like pull-ups, rows, etc which also stress your biceps. Take it lighter and easier until your arm feels better. I tore my left bicep (not the tendon just the muscle) back in November 2013 doing heavy mixed grip deadlifts. I was fortunate I didn't tear the tendon off the bone. Besides a deformity in my bicep muscle - it is 1 inch shorter than my right bicep now - I am back to 100%. Even though I am at 100%, I don't train arms heavy anymore and I go more for strict form and higher volume because I don't know if the tendon was weakened in some way from the injury.

The bottom line is tendinitis is a progressive problem that leads to tendinopathy which is where the tendon becomes permanetly weakened and damaged and at high risk of rupture. You have the added issue of where you broke your forearm and had trauma to the area like I had in the past with my right arm. With time, this will go away as you make the area stronger. Listen to your body and take it easy training biceps and back. Stay away from exercises that cause you discomfort even after your tendon has healed. You can still grow your biceps doing lots of different exercises that are easier on the tendon. The consequences of not following this advice will be a tendon rupture and then surgery. It is not a question of if it will happen but rather when it will happen :-)

John

Thanks for the response, they were very indepth aswell, I appreciate it a lot.

"This typically occurs due to excessive lifting, or bending of the elbow against resistance (such as performing chin ups or bicep curls). Occasionally it may occur suddenly due to a high force going through the biceps tendon beyond what it can withstand."

Yea I think it started happening or became noticable around the time I tried to lift a barbell curl that was a fair amount heavier than what I normally lift.

"You need to go through an examination from a physiotherapist to diagnose this"

Thanks for the advice, now that im aware it could be tendonitous Ill book an appointment with one.

"This will put you out of commission for 6 months and could take up to 1 year to be back to 100%."

I saw a lot of "bicep tear" videos when trying to find a solution for this, from watching them I can understand how it would keep you out for a while.

"If your distal tendon is aching, you need to avoid all preacher curl exercises as these stress the hell out of the distal tendon."

Yea i deffinitely noticed it the most when trying to do preacher curls, it would twinge a lot more there.

"The bottom line is tendinitis is a progressive problem that leads to tendinopathy"

How long does this normally take? since I have been experiancing this disconfort for about 2 months. Generally I would do 1 heavier set to see if its still there than drop the weight after I feel it.

@Poanizer see at the moment i will advise you to top working out and go seea physiotherapis and ask him if you can continue working out other body parts or not as he will only be able to tell you the severity of your injury, dont worry i dont think so that you have permanently damaged your tendon or ruputured your bicep as its very very painful and some sort of skin discoloration and swelling and numbness like in this picture

but yeah be careful and dont workout at all untill your are completely pain free, for more information take a look at this article.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2009/0901/p470.html

http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/9587950/biceps-tendonitis-biceps-tendinopathy-physioad.htm