What is a Muscle Strain?
A muscle strain is an injury to the muscle fibres caused by stretching or tearing. It is commonly known as a ‘pulled’ muscle. It is common in the hamstring (back of the thigh) and calf muscles.
Muscle strains have three different grades:
Grade 1 – mild damage to muscle, mild loss of strength, some tenderness and pain
Grade 2 – moderate damage to muscle fibres, noticeable loss of strength, pain and swelling, sometimes visible bruise
Grade 3 – complete tear of muscle fibres, total loss of muscle function, severe pain and bruising
Common Signs & Symptoms
Depending on the grade of your muscle strain, you may have some of the following symptoms
⦁ Pain
⦁ Loss of strength in muscle
⦁ Bruising and/or swelling
⦁ Tenderness in the area
⦁ Heard or felt a ‘pop’ at the time of injury
Causes
Muscle strains can be due to not warming up properly before exercise, rapidly stretching tight muscles, low flexibility, overtraining, or direct blows to the area. They happen commonly with explosive activity, such as sprinting or jumping, as the muscle is contracted and overstretched too quickly.
How can Physiotherapy help you?
A physiotherapist can help restore muscle strength and health and provide manual therapy to reduce pain. With our assessment, we can provide timelines on how long your muscle strain will take to heal and design an exercise and strengthening program specific to you. We may provide shockwave therapy to encourage the healing of the torn fibres. Physiotherapy is essential to help prevent scar tissue formation during the healing process, which, if left untreated, can increase the risk of future strains. Our professional expertise will help you with a strong recovery so you can return to your activities as soon as possible.
References
Maffulli, N., Del Buono, A., Oliva, F., Giai Via, A., Frizziero, A., Barazzuol, M., Brancaccio, P., Freschi, M., Galletti, S., Lisitano, G., Melegati, G., Nanni, G., Pasta, G., Ramponi, C., Rizzo, D., Testa, V., & Valent, A. (2014). Muscle Injuries: A Brief Guide to Classification and Management. Translational medicine @ UniSa, 12, 14–18. LINK
Valle, X., Alentorn-Geli, E., Tol, J. L., Hamilton, B., Garrett, W. E., Pruna, R., Til, L., Gutierrez, J. A., Alomar, X., Balius, R., Malliaropoulos, N., Monllau, J. C., Whiteley, R., Witvrouw, E., Samuelsson, K., & Rodas, G. (2016). Muscle injuries in sports: A new evidence-informed and expert consensus-based classification with Clinical Application. Sports Medicine, 47(7), 1241–1253.LINK
McHugh, M. P., & Tyler, T. F. (2019). Muscle strain injury vs Muscle Damage: Two mutually exclusive clinical entities. Translational Sports Medicine, 2(3), 102–108. LINK