How to recover from a muscle strain

Video: How to Treat Muscle Strains or Tears

Content

Steps
Part 1 of 2: Recovering from home stretching
Part 2 of 2: Seeking Medical Care
Tips
Additional articles

Overextension or stretching of a muscle occurs when its constituent tissues are stretched more than the allowable limit, which leads to their partial or complete rupture. There are three grades for assessing muscle stretching: I degree (small tears of tissues), II degree (significant tears of tissues) and III degree (complete rupture of tissues). Most minor to moderate sprains heal within a few weeks, but recovery from a stretch can be faster and more complete with proven home treatments or professional medical attention.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Recovering from home stretching

1 Do not overexert yourself and allow the stretched muscle to rest. In most cases, muscle strain occurs when a person lifts too much weight, does too much (performs repetitive actions), makes an unsuccessful movement, or is simply injured (in an accident or during sports). The first step in any strain (and in most musculoskeletal injuries) is to allow the injured muscle to rest. This may require taking a day off from work for a couple of days or temporarily refusing to participate in team games, as muscles recover faster if you provide them with enough time to rest. If your sprain does not go away within a few weeks, then the injury either torn a significant amount of muscle tissue, or also injured a ligament or joint.
- Typically, muscle sprains are characterized by dull aching pain, while sharp and / or shooting pain is more common with sprains and joint damage.
- With moderate to severe sprains, a bruise forms very quickly in the area of injury, which is the result of damage and rupture of some of the vessels that feed the muscle.
2 Apply something cold to the recently injured area. If the muscle stretch is fresh enough (within a few days), then it is likely that there is some inflammation in the injury area that needs to be removed. Inflammation occurs due to the fact that when muscle tissue ruptures, the body's immune system sends a large number of white blood cells to the site of injury. They cleanse damaged cells and connective tissues, setting the stage for further injury healing. However, severe inflammation of the injured area can cause discomfort and increase pain. In most cases, it is necessary to apply cold to the stretching as soon as possible (ice wrapped in a towel or a pack of cooling gel), as this will help to contract the injured vessels and relieve subsequent inflammation.
- Cold should be applied every hour for 10-20 minutes (the more extensive and deeper the injury, the longer), and subsequently, with a decrease in pain and swelling, gradually reduce the frequency of this procedure.
- Pressing ice against the stretched muscle by applying an elastic bandage and lifting the injured limb will help to quickly relieve swelling.
3 If the injury is chronic, apply warm, wet compresses. If your injury is already old or has passed into a chronic stage (more than a month does not pass), then the question of removing the inflammation is no longer worth it. Most likely, the muscle is weakened, constantly overextended and insufficiently supplied with blood, which leads to a lack of nutrients (oxygen, glucose, minerals). A warm, wet compress can help relieve tension and cramping, increase blood flow, and speed up the healing process of the chronic stretch stage.
- Take a warmed-up heating pad for warm, wet compresses and apply it to the injured muscle for 15-20 minutes, 3-5 times a day until tension and stiffness are relieved. You can also prepare warm compresses with wheat or rice and soothing herbs or essential oils (such as lavender).
- Alternatively, you can dip the stretched limb in an Epsom salt bath for 20-30 minutes, as it relieves pain and swelling from injured muscles well. Magnesium contained in this salt helps to relax muscle tissues, and warm water improves blood circulation.
- Do not use dry heat provided by conventional heating pads for chronic sprains, as you risk dehydrating injured tissues and exacerbating the situation.
4 Take an anti-inflammatory drug. As already mentioned, inflammation is the main cause of symptoms associated with fresh musculoskeletal injuries such as sprains. Therefore, starting over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs immediately after injury is also a good strategy. Common anti-inflammatory drugs include ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin, but they are bad for the stomach and should not be taken for longer than 2 weeks. Anti-inflammatories are only meant to help relieve symptoms of injury, but they do not speed up the recovery process, although they allow you to return to work and other activities (when required) in a more comfortable state.
- Ibuprofen is not suitable for young children, so always consult a doctor before giving any medications to children.
- For chronic muscle problems, consider taking muscle relaxants (such as cyclobenzapril) to relieve muscle strain and spasms.
5 Try doing light stretches. Stretching is mainly used to prevent injury, but it can also be used during injury recovery (carefully and within reason, of course). When the pain subsides a few days after the injury, consider doing light stretching to maintain muscle elasticity and prevent spasms.Start with 2-3 stretches per day for 15 to 20 seconds, performed with deep breaths. Chronic injuries require stretching even more, so in this case, the number of stretches can be increased to 3-5 per day for a duration of 30 seconds, and continue until the port, until the discomfort in the muscles disappears.
- With proper stretching, there will be no increase in pain the next day. If this happens, then it is an indicator of muscle overstretching, so you need to reduce the intensity of the stretch being performed.
- The main cause of muscle overstretching is to stretch without warming up. First of all, you need to increase blood circulation or apply a warm, wet compress and only then move on to stretching.

Part 2 of 2: Seeking Medical Care

1 Take a deep massage course. If home remedies aren't helping you recover as quickly as you'd like, or if you're looking to supplement them, consider contacting a professional massage therapist for a deep tissue massage. Deep massage is useful for mild to moderate sprains, as it relieves muscle spasms, fights inflammation and helps relax muscles. Start with a 30 minute treatment and let the massage be as deep as you can stand without screaming pain. You can also opt for localized massage, which focuses exclusively on massaging injured muscle tissue.
- Always keep an eye on rehydration after a massage to flush inflammation products and lactic acid out of your body. If you don't, you may start to experience mild headaches or nausea.
- If your budget does not allow you to contact a professional massage therapist, then you can try using a tennis ball or massage roller for self-massage. Depending on the location of the injury, you can use your body weight by rolling a tennis ball or massage roller until tension is relieved and pain disappears.
2 Get ultrasound treatment. The therapeutic effect of ultrasound on soft tissues and bones is created by high-frequency sound waves (inaudible to humans) emitted by vibrating crystalline material. Despite the fact that such physiotherapy procedures have been used for various musculoskeletal injuries for more than 50 years, the specific mechanisms of their effect on tissues have not yet been fully understood. During the procedure, a thermal effect (heating) occurs, which has a beneficial effect on fresh injuries. The frequency of the ultrasound can be adjusted so that the waves penetrate the body only superficially or much deeper, which is especially useful for shoulder injuries and sprains of the lower back.
- The ultrasound treatment is painless and lasts about 3-10 minutes, depending on the location of the injury and whether it is fresh or chronic. With fresh injuries, procedures can be performed 1-2 times a day, and with chronic injuries, somewhat less often.
- Despite the fact that just one ultrasound treatment procedure can give significant relief to a stretched muscle, usually a clearly noticeable effect is achieved only after 3-5 procedures.
3 Consider an electrophoresis course. Electrophoresis can be effective for both fresh and chronic injuries. During electrophoresis, electrodes are placed on the injured muscle to transmit an electric current that causes the muscles to contract. For fresh injuries, electrophoresis is beneficial in that it helps relieve inflammation, reduce pain, and make nerve endings less sensitive. In chronic injuries, electrophoresis strengthens the muscles and re-"teaches" the tissue to work normally (they begin to contract more efficiently and smoothly).
- Electrophoresis procedures are often prescribed by traumatologists, chiropractors, and sports team doctors.
- Physiotherapy electrophoresis is available in almost any clinic. Equipment for these procedures is more affordable than ultrasound equipment. However, the procedures themselves must be carried out under the strict supervision of doctors.
4 Try infrared light. Infrared radiation is a type of frequency therapy. Low-energy (infrared) light waves can accelerate wound healing, reduce pain, and reduce inflammation, especially in chronic injuries. Infrared radiation (from a handheld device or from an infrared sauna) penetrates deep into the body and improves blood circulation as it creates heat and dilates blood vessels. A single treatment can last from 10 to 45 minutes, depending on the type of injury and whether it is fresh or chronic.
- In some cases, a significant reduction in pain occurs within a few hours after the first procedure, however, in each specific situation, the results of treatment may be different.
- The pain reduction effect is usually long-term (lasting for weeks or even months).
- Infrared radiation therapy is often prescribed by chiropractors, massage therapists, osteopaths, and physiotherapists.

Tips

To prevent stretching, get into the habit of warming up before doing any major exercise.
Poor physical fitness can make muscles weak and more prone to injury.
Muscles that are overworked with intense exercise are also more prone to injury.