Certain common but painful injuries that cause a tear in the muscle fibers are called muscle strain (pulled muscles). While a mild muscle strain can be treated at home, in more severe cases, you may need medical care or even surgery to fix it. To ensure a complete recovery, you should follow exactly the instructions given by your physician.
Furthermore, muscle strain is one of the most common soft tissue injuries, and sometimes it may happen when you pull a muscle too hard. Generally, the strains can be minor to major. While they are painful, they heal over time with rest and lack of physical activity.
Typically, the muscles are made up of multiple small fibers woven together. When a muscle strain occurs, these small fibers are stretched beyond their limit. People who have used an old bungee cord to hold something in place have noticed something similar to a muscle tear.
Types of Muscle Strain
Physicians have divided this disorder into 2 types based on how they occur. These include:
- Acute muscle strains – This type usually occurs suddenly and causes symptoms immediately. It may happen when you pull a muscle with a sudden and forceful movement or by twisting it.
- Chronic muscle strains – This form of muscle strain often develops gradually, and the symptoms appear over time. Most of the time, people develop the chronic form when overusing a muscle without giving it time to recover.
While this condition can occur in any part of the body, the most commonly affected muscles include the groin muscles, hip flexor muscles, hamstring muscles, abdominal muscles, back muscles, and calf muscles.
Symptoms
Mostly, people who develop a muscle strain often experience the following symptoms. Examples include:
- Muscle weakness
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Muscle spasms
- Pain
- Reduced range of motion
- A gap or dent in the muscle shape
Usually, when a muscle strain occurs, you may hear or feel a “pop” during the injury. If it occurs along with the previous symptoms, immediately contact your healthcare professional.
What Does a Torn Muscle Feel Like?
Commonly, a torn muscle feels sore, especially when you are trying to move it. When it is a chronic form of muscle strain, you will develop pain gradually. The acute form often causes pain suddenly, and you can also feel the muscle weaken.
Causes
There are a lot of muscle strain reasons, but the most common causes are listed below. For example:
- Acute injuries – Commonly, muscle strains are sports injuries that occur due to sudden sprinting, twisting, or jumping. However, accidental muscle strains can also occur in daily life.
- Multiple strain injuries – If you are repeating the same movement multiple times, it may lead to chronic muscle strain.
- Overtraining – People who are training too hard for long periods can also experience muscle strains, especially if they do not allow their muscles to recover.
- Undertraining – It is important to understand that low flexibility and strength can also cause muscle strains. You should also warm up before physical exercise.
Risk Factors
While anyone can develop muscle strains, the following factors may increase your risk even more. Moreover, there are some muscles that are more prone to strains. These include:
- Crossing more than one joint – The muscles that cross several joints usually act to restrain other muscles.
- Eccentric muscles – These muscles stretch and lengthen when bearing a load. Thus, they are absorbing the impact of the load with controlled movements.
- Type II muscle fibers – The muscles that contain high concentrations of type II muscle fibers are used with more force, which makes them more prone to strains.
Check for other risk factors below:
- Muscle stiffness
- Previous muscle strains
- Muscle imbalances
- Environmental and physical factors, including exercising in cold weather, loss of muscle elasticity, dehydration, and others
What Are The Long-term Effects of Muscle Strains?
People with unmanaged muscle strains can also experience one or multiple of the following complications. Check some examples below:
- Compartment syndrome – This is a serious health condition that occurs due to severe strains. It often causes internal bleeding and swelling. A severe form of this syndrome may cut off blood flow and cause permanent damage to the muscles or nerves.
- Myositis ossificans – This is another serious complication that occurs when the body makes bone tissue within the affected muscle as a part of healing.
- Chronic pain and weakness – People who leave torn fibers untreated may develop excessive scar tissue and chronic discomfort.
- An increased risk of recurrence – According to some studies, athletes are about 5 times more prone to re-injure the same area.
- Complete rupture
- Functional problems – Chronic muscle strains can cause limitations and a reduction in flexibility.
Consult with your doctor about measures to reduce the risk of previous complications or about other possible complications of muscle strains because this article does not contain a full list.
How to Prevent Muscle Strains?
Doctors often recommend the following tips to reduce the risk of developing muscle strains. These include:
- Regularly warm up and stretch the muscles before using them
- You should pay attention to your posture and workplace ergonomics
- Doctors often recommend aiming for 30 minutes of physical exercise per day, at least 5 days a week
Diagnosis
When a muscle strain occurs, you probably have a good idea of how it happened. In any case, the diagnosis of muscle strains starts with a physical examination to check for irregularities linked to the disease. Physicians may also ask some questions about your symptoms. Sometimes, doctors may perform one of the following imaging tests to exclude other health conditions that cause similar symptoms or determine the extent (stage) of the tear. For example, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans, CT (computed tomography) scans, or ultrasounds.
Grades
The following grades are listed according to the severity of a muscle strain. Examples include:
- Grade I – This grade means a mild form of muscle strain. It is the most common form.
- Grade II – This is a moderate muscle strain in which the muscle has torn. It often affects muscle strength and range of motion.
- Grade III – It indicates a severe form of muscle strain. Most of the time, doctors recommend surgery for people with this grade.
Treatment
While most people recover with home remedies, in more severe cases, people may need a combination of the following options. These include:
- RICE – These include rest, ice, compression, and elevation. This option helps most people relieve pain and inflammation.
- Crutches – These are often used by people who have injuries in the lower part of the body.
- Painkillers – In most cases, physicians recommend NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). They help reduce inflammation and ease the symptoms caused by muscle strains.
- Physical therapy – During this option, a therapist will teach you specific exercises to improve the symptoms and help the muscles heal.
- Platelet-rich plasma injections – This is the newest treatment that involves platelets from one’s own blood to stimulate healing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you fix a strained muscle?
Commonly, mild cases are treated at home with RICE. In more severe cases, doctors may prescribe NSAIDs, physical therapy, and medicines.
How long does a strained muscle heal?
Most people recover from a muscle strain within 5 weeks. Generally, the recovery time depends on the severity of a muscle strain, age, and existing health problems. For more details, discuss it with your physician.
What can be mistaken for a muscle strain?
Sometimes, muscle strains can be mistaken for joint sprains, pinched nerves, hernias, ligament tears, and other health conditions. Ask your healthcare provider if you have any other questions.
