Strain (injury)
Encyclopedia
A strain is an injury
Injury
-By cause:*Traumatic injury, a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident*Other injuries from external physical causes, such as radiation injury, burn injury or frostbite*Injury from infection...

 to a muscle
Muscle
Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...

 or tendon
Tendon
A tendon is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that usually connects muscle to bone and is capable of withstanding tension. Tendons are similar to ligaments and fasciae as they are all made of collagen except that ligaments join one bone to another bone, and fasciae connect muscles to other...

 in which the muscle fibres
Skeletal muscle
Skeletal muscle is a form of striated muscle tissue existing under control of the somatic nervous system- i.e. it is voluntarily controlled. It is one of three major muscle types, the others being cardiac and smooth muscle...

 tear as a result of overstretching
Stretching
Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific skeletal muscle is deliberately elongated, often by abduction from the torso, in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and reaffirm comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility and...

. A strain is also colloquially known as a pulled muscle. The equivalent injury to a ligament
Ligament
In anatomy, the term ligament is used to denote any of three types of structures. Most commonly, it refers to fibrous tissue that connects bones to other bones and is also known as articular ligament, articular larua, fibrous ligament, or true ligament.Ligament can also refer to:* Peritoneal...

 is a sprain
Sprain
A sprain is an injury in a joint, caused by the ligament being stretched beyond its capacity. A muscular tear caused in the same manner is referred to as a strain. In cases where either ligament or muscle tissue is torn, immobilization and surgical repair may be necessary...

.

Symptoms

Typical symptom
Symptom
A symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality...

s of a strain include: localized pain, stiffness
Joint stiffness
Joint stiffness may be either the symptom of pain on moving a joint, the symptom of loss of range of motion or the physical sign of reduced range of motion. Doctors prefer the latter two uses but patients often use the first meaning....

, discoloration and bruising around the strained muscle.

Causes

Strains are a result of muscular-fiber tears due to overstretching. They can happen while doing everyday tasks and are not restricted to athletes. Nevertheless, people who play sports are more at risk of developing a strain due to increased muscle use.

Treatment

The first-line treatment for a muscular strain in the acute phase
Acute phase
The Acute phase of an injury is the period of time in between when the injury is sustained, and the beginning of the sub-acute phase. Depending on the severity of injury, and the age and health of the patient, this phase can take up to four or five days...

 include four steps commonly known as R.I.C.E.
RICE (medicine)
RICE is a treatment method for soft tissue injury which is an acronym for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. When used appropriately, recovery duration is usually shortened and discomfort minimized....


  • Rest: Stop all unnecessary activities, especially those that cause pain, to prevent the strain from progressing.

  • Ice: Apply ice to reduce swelling by reducing blood flow to the injury site. Never ice for more than 20 minutes at a time.

  • Compression: Wrap the strained area to reduce swelling with an ACE soft-wrapped bandage.

  • Elevation: Keep the strained area as close to the level of the heart as is conveniently possible to keep blood from pooling in the injured area.


The ice and compression (cold compression therapy
Cold compression therapy
Cold Compression Therapy combines two of the principles of R.I.C.E. to reduce pain and swelling from a sports or activity injury to soft tissues and recommended by orthopedic surgeons following surgery...

) will stop the pain and swelling while the injury starts to heal itself. Controlling the inflammation is critical to the healing process and the icing further restricts fluid leaking into the injured area as well as controlling pain.

Cold compression therapy
Cold compression therapy
Cold Compression Therapy combines two of the principles of R.I.C.E. to reduce pain and swelling from a sports or activity injury to soft tissues and recommended by orthopedic surgeons following surgery...

 wraps are a useful way to combine icing and compression to stop swelling and pain.

This immediate treatment is usually accompanied by the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., ibuprofen
Ibuprofen
Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for relief of symptoms of arthritis, fever, as an analgesic , especially where there is an inflammatory component, and dysmenorrhea....

), which both reduce the immediate inflammation and relieve pain.

It is recommended that the person injured should consult a medical provider if the injury is accompanied by severe pain, if the limb cannot be used, or if there is noticeable tenderness over an isolated spot. These can be signs of a broken or fractured bone
Bone fracture
A bone fracture is a medical condition in which there is a break in the continuity of the bone...

, a sprain
Sprain
A sprain is an injury in a joint, caused by the ligament being stretched beyond its capacity. A muscular tear caused in the same manner is referred to as a strain. In cases where either ligament or muscle tissue is torn, immobilization and surgical repair may be necessary...

, or a complete muscle tear.

Therapeutic ultrasound
Therapeutic ultrasound
Therapeutic ultrasound refers generally to any type of procedure that uses ultrasound for therapeutic benefit. This includes HIFU, lithotripsy, targeted ultrasounddrug delivery, trans-dermal ultrasound drug delivery, ultrasound hemostasis, and ultrasound assisted thrombolysis.-Physical...

can be used to break down poorly healed muscle strains and permit them to heal properly.
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