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biceps pain when running
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Anyone had trouble with biceps tightness/discomfort while running, keeps recurring, bothersome. just in one arm.
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Re: biceps pain when running [kell0] [ In reply to ]
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I've had shoulder pain in the past...I always try to shake out my arms every 2 or so miles.


It's simple, but it isn't easy.
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Re: biceps pain when running [kell0] [ In reply to ]
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Sure - this is hard to beat though. It can come from multiple sources. One can be a slight rotation of your torso along the head to foot axis so that your arms travel slightly different paths while you run. Another, and perhaps more common, is just the slightest bit of muscle contraction, so little that you're probably not aware of it, in that arm.

On your next run, every 5 minutes or so, "shake it out," let this arm hang down to your side for a few seconds, bend and straighten, repeat. See what you get.

John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA
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Re: biceps pain when running [johnpostmd] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, the arm that hurts, my elbow splays from my torso, where as the other one is pretty close. I try and stretch it/shake it out every now and then when I run. Pain will even persists much more midly when I'm done running.
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Re: biceps pain when running [kell0] [ In reply to ]
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You might point this out to your local running shoe shop. Do you have a limb length inequality? Is there an imbalance in your stride? If you lived here, you'd get put up on the tread mill and everybody at the shop would watch you run until they figured out why you do this. Give it a try.

John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA
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Re: biceps pain when running [johnpostmd] [ In reply to ]
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I'm in Louisville. Fleet feet is run by kids. other running store has no treadmill.....guess I could ask them to take a look. Will try and shoot some video. Don't think I have a leg length difference, have orthotics for one year now. Have been having some left hip/pelvic/back pain, for past six months that has been getting better with some rehab/time. I'm getting frustrated as I orignially got the orthotics for plantar fasciitis, then got PF in the other foot, and now have the hip/pelvic/back pain (negative mri) and this thrown on top just really is bothersome. It holds my mileage down, and these injuries have persisted despite training breaks. I have worked with an orthopod....and a sports medicine doc...and I'm an internist and pulm fellow....any suggestions?
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Re: biceps pain when running [kell0] [ In reply to ]
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You know, I've been at this a long time. Over the years, like most veterans, I've built up a library of resources, but mostly because I've screwed things up. They say you learn those lessons best (just ask Daniel Coyle, author of "The Talent Code" and the fabulous "Lance Armstrong's War.") Some examples; 1) the running shoe shop I frequent has had single ownership for over 25 years and this gent knows more about running injuries/training than 4 Sports Med docs put together - including me. 2) The author of the "Textbook of Running Medicine" has an office a couple of miles from here. 3) The Univ of VA has their SPEED CLINIC where static and dynamic bike fits are done, lactate thresholds are determined with on site lab services, and they have complete video analysis of the running gait by very experienced folks. 4) A former Olympic Team Doc and arthroscopy pioneer is just 65 miles from here.

Where I'm going with this is that if this is what's available in sleepy little Charlottesville, VA, if you turn over some rocks you'll find the same thing in Louisville. Why not ask around for the runner with the most injures and see what library of resources he/she has assembled.

John

John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA
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Re: biceps pain when running [kell0] [ In reply to ]
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First thought would be that the bicep tendon is out of the grove. Most of us dont realize that the bicep has a lot to do with flexing the upper arm -- swinging the arm forward.

Many chiros or PT's can put this back in. The doc who posted earlier can also be right about a shoe/foot problem. Quite a few shoulder issues begin as a foot/leg problem as odd as that sounds. If the bicep tendon is a problem, it is a quick thing to get it back in with minimal pain.

Chris Scarborough CSCS
http://RunAFasterRace.com
Coach@BetterRunningSpeed.com
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Re: biceps pain when running [speedcoach09] [ In reply to ]
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I have a nagging issue with my right shoulder on my longer runs. I would describe it more as an ache than a pain. It hasn't worsened over time (has been happending for a few years now) so I basically shake it off (literally and figuratively) and it seems to go away after a while. I don't have any issue with swim, strength work etc. but I do get the same feeling if I throw a ball with the kids for any length of time.


http://rogersroadrash.blogspot.com/
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Re: biceps pain when running [JollyRoger] [ In reply to ]
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Could certainly originate from the same problem or perhaps some weakness in the scapula. Often when the bicep is out, the rotator cuff has to overwork to stabilize the shoulder in the capsule.

Many rotator cuff injuries began with bicep tendons out of the grove and progressed to worse things. That does not mean that is your problem, but it is well worth checking it out.

Chris Scarborough CSCS
http://RunAFasterRace.com
Coach@BetterRunningSpeed.com
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Re: biceps pain when running [speedcoach09] [ In reply to ]
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Bicep is "out of it's grove?" Don't believe I've ever made this diagnosis. Teach me.

John

John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA
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Re: biceps pain when running [johnpostmd] [ In reply to ]
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I think that the bicep being out is minimally symptomatic, and sometimes asymptomatic all by itself. At least this is my experience. However, since the bicep has poor mechanical leverage when out of the grove (of the shoulder) it causes stress in other areas of the shoulder forcing the body to compensate in some way. Usually the athlete has rotator cuff problems or labrum or both. When speaking to orthos, they say they frequently have to put it back in place while they are doing surgery on the shoulder for something else.

There is a simple little screening test I use, and many PT's or chiros can put it back in in just a few seconds.

The athlete may not even have pain, but when a tendon is put back in, the arm feels stronger instantly. I will try to shoot a video for you to see to see my screening test.

Chris Scarborough CSCS
http://RunAFasterRace.com
Coach@BetterRunningSpeed.com
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Re: biceps pain when running [kell0] [ In reply to ]
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Any chance you are clinching your hand on that side? Carrying the forearm higher? Carrying your car keys/cell phone/water bottle in that hand?

I run to the NYSC, swim, and then run home 3 nights a week. If I don't switch the padlock and house keys between hands on the way home my arm gets noticably tired. It doesn't take much.

"...the street finds its own uses for things"
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Re: biceps pain when running [speedcoach09] [ In reply to ]
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Ah, subluxation of the long head of the bicep. In my experience, this is a pretty rare phenomenon and almost always is accompanied by other shoulder pathology. It's most often seen with either a partial or complete tear of the rotator cuff. In particular, it's the subscapularis portion of the cuff, and its contribution to anchoring the tendon at the biciptal groove. In our athlete we'd be more help if we included bicep tendinitis or tenosynovitis. Thanks.

John



John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA
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Re: biceps pain when running [kell0] [ In reply to ]
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I had stopped running after meniscectomy and ACL reconstruction in 2011 (was 30 years old then). Built my quads up and included proprioceptive exercises over 2 years and thought of getting back to running, though the orthopedician who operated was dead against running. Couldn't stop myself...initially I would run 2K on treadmill everyday and 5K on Sundays. Slowly progressed to 10k and 12K over next 3 years.

Since 2016-17, started having rest pain in the knee. Degenerative changes were already there at time of surgery and they would not revert, in knew. So started swimming and quit everything else so that my knees carry me longer.
The pool closed for winter and I went back to the treadmill. But only after pain in both biceps did I realise that I had lost an inch off my arms. And mostly biceps because I wasn't working it out at all.
This season, I have been doing regular pull ups at least one 5K every week while continuing swimming on rest of the days. Problem hasn't recurred.
Another point was I have a sudden flexion at elbow along with gradual flexion at shoulder...have been running like that for as long as I know.
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Re: biceps pain when running [kell0] [ In reply to ]
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You're getting a lot of different responses, so I'll throw in my 2 cents.

A few years ago I was on a challenging trail run, and went down a steep hill. In one spot was a bit of a drop off and when I went over it my arms came up rather quickly.

From that point on, I had an intermittent pain in the middle of my bicep. By middle I mean middle in all 3 dimensions, literally the core of my bicep. It was a sharp pain, but not too painful and only during certain movements. Went to PT etc. but nothing helped. It went away after a couple of months, and my only treatment was to try and avoid the movements that made it hurt.
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Re: biceps pain when running [Durhamskier] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah the pain went away with time. Was more like an ache. Hasn’t happen since. Plantar fasciitis all better too.
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Re: biceps pain when running [kell0] [ In reply to ]
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Nice follow-up from 8 years later!
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