Are you suffering from a muscle strain or think you may be? If you are experiencing muscle pain with a strong contraction, swelling or stiffness in the muscle, or weakness in that area, you might be right. A “muscle strain”, occurs when muscle fibers are overstretched, overused, or contracted against a sudden load. At the moment of injury the stretch or stress on the muscle fibers is too great for the muscle to handle causing the fibers to tear and be injured.

What Causes a Strained Muscle ?

• Sport Related Injury
• Overuse- from work, play, sports...
• Random injury
• Previous Injury
• Muscle strain from painful movements.
• Fatigue

Why Is A Muscle Strain So Painful?

A muscle strain is typically extremely uncomfortable and can be tremendously painful depending on the severity of the injury. As affected muscles and tendons begin to swell up from the injury, the injured area will become tender, swollen, and very painful leading to loss of range of motion and flexibility. If left a severe muscle tear is left untreated, this will eventually lead to further severe damage and potentially surgery.

Common Muscle Strain Hotspots-

• Calfs
• Hamstrings
• Knees
• Ankles
• Hips
• Lower back
• Shoulders
• Elbows
• Neck
• Hands

How Physical Therapy for Muscle Strain Works?

Stretching and Special Exercise: Included with all muscle tear physical therapy treatment plans is specialized stretches and exercises tailored to each individuals unique condition. Incorporating these special stretches and exercises into your daily routine will help to slow the progression of arthritis, related swelling and pain, increase strength in supporting muscles and tendons, and improve range of motion.

Strength Training: Most people who suffer with arthritis or RA all tend to have the same issue around arthritic areas- lack of range of motion and poor strength in supporting muscles and tendons. With the poor support and weakness, daily tasks and activities such as walking, jogging, riding a bike, bending over to pick something up, walking up stairs, daily chores, etc. will all start to become a little more difficult and painful to do. Over a period of time, the arthritic joint(s) and supporting muscles and tendons can become more unstable, even weaker, and more susceptible to injury without proper arthritis treatments. Our physical therapists will prescribe a personalized arthritis treatment plan, outlining special stretches and exercises that a patient can do every day to slow the progression of the arthritis.

Range of Motion: When someone pulls or tears a muscle, they tend to lose a little bit of flexibility simply due to the fact that the more they use the area with the torn muscle, the more pain is caused. With a muscle tear, muscle fibers and/or tendons "tear" or rip apart at a micro-level, causing extreme discomfort and pain. Our physical therapists can assist by first assessing a patient's ROM and formulating a specialized PT treatment plan with specific stretches and exercises that will help with alleviating pain, joint compression, increase mobility, along with strengthening the area affected by the muscle tear.

Pain Management: When a person tears a muscle, they almost always have to endure related pain everyday wehile the affected area heals. Our physical therapists can help by using different physical therapy techniques and other modalities, along with specialized stretches, massages, and exercises to help reduce pain associated with a muscle tear while it goes through the healing process. Remember, the RICE method once again is almost always the first step after injury

How Can Physical Therapy Help a Muscle Strain?

• Stabilizing and strengthening muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
• Promote better range of motion
• Allows for mobilization of any stiff muscles and tendons
• Improvement of posture
• Enhances neuromuscular control
• Assists in relieving pain
• Greater muscle strength

If you decide to work with a physical therapist to help correct your muscle strain, your entire treatment plan could consist of around 8-20 different PT treatment sessions, each lasting approximately 60-90 minutes. Once you complete your personalized physical therapy treatment plan, you will be able to continue to do the prescribed stretches and exercises utilized during your PT sessions, yet in the comfort of your own home. Physical therapy for a muscle strain can be beneficial for children as well as adults. Anyone who is suffering from the pain and irritation that is often associated with a mild to severe muscle strain may benefit from physical therapy.

Common Muscle Strain Treatments-

• PT
• OT
• Massage
• Hot and Cold packs
• Bracing
• TENS Therapy
• Diathermy

Muscle strain physical therapy is an excellent nonsurgical treatment for pulled and torn muscles and tendons. However, depending on the severity of your case, bracing or surgery may be recommended. With bracing, you will wear a brace to provide problematic areas additional support to prevent any additional injury and in some cases, even some pain relief. If you have a severe case, then your doctor may prescribe medicine, consistent physical therapy treatment sessions, bracing, and/or surgery.

Chronic Pain: If you or your child has chronic pain they may benefit from physical therapy for a muscle tear, related stretches and exercises, and manual therapy.

With physical therapy the main goal is to slow the progression of the injury itself, to strengthen surrounding muscles and tendons, and to prevent future injury. If you or someone you care about is suffering from pain associated with a torn muscle, then physical therapy may be a good recommendation. To learn more about physical therapy for muscle tears, or to schedule a consultation, feel free to reach out to my team and I today.