Tendon Surgery AGAIN!

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  • #77
Well, my career as a professional arm wrestler is pretty much over.

Funny you should mention that MB. When I was 25, I was a competitive arm wrestler and during a match I shattered the humurus bone in my upper arm. The arm was broken so bad that the orthopaedic doctor could not set it in a cast. They had to do surgery on the arm (same arm that I just had elbow surgery on). They opened up my shoulder by cutting off the rotator cuff tendons and hammered a 10" 3/8" dia. stainless steel rod down through the shattered bone and marrow in the middle of my arm. Then they anchored the rod with a pin in the shoulder and one more above the elbow. Finally they stitched all 4 rotator cuff tendons back up in the shoulder. I was in surgery for over 6 hours and spend almost a full year in rehab.

Yup, my professional career as an arm wrestler ended with that match for sure.
 
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  • #80
No, I don't set off the metal detectors, which is a surprise.

Jer, I got into the sport back in the late 80's. At the time I was a competitive powerlifter and really enjoyed lifting the heavy weights, though I did not care for performing in front of a crowd because I'm really quite shy. One day a big dude in the gym challanged me to an arm wrestling match. I didn't want to but everyone kept egging me on so I did it and kicked his ass badly 3 times in a row. I had lightning fast reflexes and kept beating him in a top roll.

Well, one of the guys watching that day was a professional arm wrestler and he encouraged me to join his team, so I started training and competing in contests with them. I really enjoyed it, but again I didn't like being up in front of a crowd too much.

Now, the worst part of this broken arm and surgery was that my wonderful wife Heide had just given birth 7 days earlier to our first daughter! Poor Heide had to not only take care of a brand new baby but also this big baby...me! Heide is my rock and my angel, and she can run my saws and GRCS as well.
 
Who were you wrestling when it blew out, somebody huge?

Was there any prior warning or issues in the arm, or things were good and then BANG?
 
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  • #82
Who were you wrestling when it blew out, somebody huge?

Was there any prior warning or issues in the arm, or things were good and then BANG?

No that is what pissed my off. The referee should never have let the match start, because I found out later that my arm was in "the broken arm position" when we set up. My elbow was setup inside my shoulder and my arm was torqued out at a bad angle. The guy was smaller than me and I had already beaten him twice before easily.

There was no warming before at all. My arm was fine. When the ref lifted his hand for us to start and we both pulled, there was this God aweful sound like a rifle shot going off and my upper arm literally exploded. It was a spiral fracture from the shoulder all the way down to the elbow. Shattered into over a dozen pieces and hung there like a wet noodle.
 
Fricking nasty.

How much of arm wrestiling is about power and how much is technique/strategy?

I remember in gym in HS I had a match with a kid who was a stud football player. We had a helluva go, it went a fairly long time (2 min? 3 min?) and we finally drew. I was pretty pumped I had held my own against him. Next day, I basically couldn't move my arm :lol:
 
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  • #85
The sport is defintely more about technique than brute strength. If I had had more experience, I never would have let the match start.
 
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  • #86
Had surgery one month ago today guys. ROM is almost all back, but doc still won't let me start PT for another week. Arm and shoulder very, very weak.
 
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  • #88
Thanks Butch!

Man I don't know how you were able to keep sane after all those months with your foot injury. That must have really tested your patience.
 
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  • #94
Jer is right though, first we have to let ourselves heal up and then I can get back to work. I have to be patient and listen to my doctors. Man, I just went through this last year so I know how tough it's gonna be when I start feeling like I'm ready to climb, but the doc will say NOT YET.
 
Wow...that is a huge amount to read. It may be all legit but I'd run it by a good nutrutionist or PT first.

A very good fitness trainer I know got me started taking MSM (methyl sulfonyl methane) and glucosamine sulfate years ago...you can get them as one combined product...good for collagen in general...usually thought of for cartilage but tendons are collagenous, too.

Get the gluc SULFATE (not chondroitin)...the molecule is smaller and more easily assimilated.

Not nearly as expensive as the Tendon Support you are looking at...you might try that.
 
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