If you are a fan of baseball, you know that we are well into the playoffs. My Dad asked me a question the other day that I thought would make a good blog post. His question was how could Edgar Renteria, a shortstop for the San Francisco Giants, continue to play with a torn biceps tendon? This is a good question, and from media reports, it seems Renteria tore the tendon in his left biceps brachii while
swinging at a pitch against the Braves last week. The biceps brachii is the large (well, large in some people) muscle located on the anterior (front) part of the upper arm. There are actually two parts to the biceps brachii, as biceps means two heads. In the picture to the left, the number 5 is pointing to the tendon that attaches the long head of the biceps brachii to the upper part of the scapula (shoulder), and the number 9 is pointing to the short head of the biceps brachii, which attaches to the lower part of the scapula. The number 4 points to the common tendon of both heads that attaches to the radius (elbow). The biceps brachii actually has 3 jobs, or functions. 1) It helps with shoulder flexion (raising your arm straight up in front of you), 2) it helps with elbow flexion (bending your elbow), and 3) it helps with supination of the proximal radiounlar joint (holding your palms up). I say it helps with these motions because there are other muscles that cause these motions as well, such as the anterior deltoid for shoulder flexion, the brachialis for elbow flexion, and supinator for supination. It is not clear from the
article which biceps brachii tendon that Renteria tore, but since there are other muscles that cause the same motions as the biceps brachii, it is possible to perform without the muscle. Renteria is probably in less pain now that the tendon has completely torn than he was when it was only a partial tear.
If you are a fan of baseball, you know that we are well into the playoffs. My Dad asked me a question the other day that I thought would make a good blog post. His question was how could Edgar Renteria, a shortstop for the San Francisco Giants, continue to play with a torn biceps tendon? This is a good question, and from media reports, it seems Renteria tore the tendon in his left biceps brachii while swinging at a pitch against the Braves last week. The biceps brachii is the large (well, large in some people) muscle located on the anterior (front) part of the upper arm. There are actually two parts to the biceps brachii, as biceps means two heads. In the picture to the left, the number 5 is pointing to the tendon that attaches the long head of the biceps brachii to the upper part of the scapula (shoulder), and the number 9 is pointing to the short head of the biceps brachii, which attaches to the lower part of the scapula. The number 4 points to the common tendon of both heads that attaches to the radius (elbow). The biceps brachii actually has 3 jobs, or functions. 1) It helps with shoulder flexion (raising your arm straight up in front of you), 2) it helps with elbow flexion (bending your elbow), and 3) it helps with supination of the proximal radiounlar joint (holding your palms up). I say it helps with these motions because there are other muscles that cause these motions as well, such as the anterior deltoid for shoulder flexion, the brachialis for elbow flexion, and supinator for supination. It is not clear from the article which biceps brachii tendon that Renteria tore, but since there are other muscles that cause the same motions as the biceps brachii, it is possible to perform without the muscle. Renteria is probably in less pain now that the tendon has completely torn than he was when it was only a partial tear.
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