Un freaking believable. What god did we piss off?
So Doc, if he's having surgery, does that mean it's a Grade 3 tear? And what will that mean for his arm strength?
Patients with very high-grade II or complete grade III tears of the humeral (upper arm bone) insertion [pectoralis major muscle tendon attachment to the bone] or musculotendinous junction [pectoralis major muscle tendon attachment to the muscle] diagnosed both by clinical examination and by MRI are typically treated surgically in an elite athlete.
It may seem somewhat strange to say, but the fact that he requires surgery makes his prognosis very good for return to pre-injury status vs. if he would have sustained a lesser Grade II, which is usually treated nonsurgically and, as opposed to surgical repair, has a significant re-tear rate.
Immobilization is followed by passive then active range of motion exercises from 4 to 8 weeks. Next, light resistance and strengthening exercises are indicated for about 4 weeks before light weight lifting can begin, usually not earlier than 3 to 4 months postoperatively, with a subsequent return to unrestricted activity at about 6 months postoperatively.
To give you an idea, reviews of the modern literature reveals overall surgical outcomes are excellent 90% of the time compared with 17% of nonsurgical patients who had excellent outcomes.the majority of the patients return to their previous performance levels within 4 to 12 months.