ruptured pec major insertion

[joe]

hi,

i ruptured the insertion of the right side pec major tendon about 8 yrs ago (age of 18) and was advised against surgury - occurred whilst training heavily on benchpress, it just went "crunch"

the might be a slight difference in surface anatomy between both pecs but the damaged side appears ok. beneath the surface there's a largish (2.5cm) area of scar tissue surrounding the injury on my shoulder which feels rock hard. i can still benchpress 50kg plus when warmed up but i'm afraid to lift anymore.

prob is i have chronic bad neck pain on my right side and my right trapezius always feels tense. the right shoulder often aches also. i feel most pain along the injury sight when i place both hands together in a praying type pose in front of me and push them together.

my main question is there any excercise/stretching that i can do to alleviate any of the pain and strngthen the area.

should i opt for surgery whilst i'm still young or is it something i should live with...?

thanks,
joe

[injuryupdate]

With the level of function you currently have, I wouldn't advise delayed repair surgery (unless you were planning on going to the Olympics or something similar). However, if there is a painful lump, you may have developed excess scar tissue, and use of anti-inflammatory gel, or a cortisone injection, might help significantly relieve pain. If you have less pain, your strength might improve. Perhaps a more minor surgical operation would be to debride some scar tissue from the lump, but it would be only worth considering this if you had a great short-term result from the cortisone shot (which shrinks scar) but it wore off quickly.

[joe]

many thanks for the reply.

i have some topical anit inflammatory that i use when the pain gets all too much and it does seem to provide temporary relief - might have to investigate the cortisone shot.

there is no impedence to my normal shoulder function at all, only prob that i currently have is the chronic neck and trapezius pain (right side, same side as pec injury).

what would be the best way to excercise and stretch both the injury site and neck area to alleviate pain ?



thanks again,
joe