In a freak accident I ruptured the distal biceps tendon in my right arm. Translation: the tendon attaching my biceps to the bone near my elbow was torn off, so it had nothing to pull against any more. Here's the surgical repair. The raised area on the radius is the 'radial tuberosity' where my surgeon (Ed Weeks, in Salt Lake City) ground off the remains of the tendon there, drilled a hole in the bone (it's the lighter area above the button) and used a metal 'button' with sutures to retain the (trimmed up) end of the severed tendon. It's held in position over the tuberosity where it 'knows' it should re-attach. The tendon actually grows back onto the bone, which seems pretty amazing to me. This takes a long time - 2 months in a rigid brace, and 5-6 months until it is fully healed. X-rays don't show the muscle, tendon or sutures. Apparently even MRIs and ultrasound don't do a good job of imaging either, so you can't really know how well it's healing. In the meantime I can't do anything which might tense up the right biceps and rip out the repair - no biking, swimming, backpacking, paddling, or handholding my DLSR...
