Muscle strains are a common issue that can impact body movement and prevent you from doing your day-to-day activities. But what exactly is muscle strain and how does it occur? And what treatment options are available?

This article will explain everything you need to know about muscle strains.

What Is a Muscle Strain?

As the name suggests, it is a strain or overload to the muscle or tendon. There are many factors that contribute to muscle pain, such as injury, overstretching of muscle tissues, or tear. This happens when muscle tissue becomes overloaded which forces it to reach a breaking point where a tear or partial tear occurs. The breakage usually occurs on a micro-tear level meaning you cannot detect it on imaging such as ultrasound and is minor but can cause significant pain. However if the strain is more significant it will appear on imaging. If your muscle is strained you will experience pain when you attempt to stretch or do your typical movements.

This is where physiotherapy for muscle strain can help treat the pain.

How Does Physiotherapy Help Treat The Injury?

Muscle strain can happen to anyone at any time. Your physiotherapist will evaluate your symptoms to determine the severity in order to provide the proper muscle strain physiotherapy treatment.

Physiotherapy is a reliable and effective way to treat muscle strain. It helps in restoring the strength and mobility of any affected muscles or body parts. Not only does it help you recover from the damage, but it also helps prevent any future injuries.

How Does an Injured Muscle Heal?

The injured muscle starts healing with an inflammatory response which can last for a few days. For the injury to be healed, it is crucial for a person to rest and protect the injured part to prevent any further damage. The amount, duration and extent of rest will depend on the injured muscle and your physiotherapist will advise you on this. Too long rest may cause weakness and further injury which is why it’s important to speak to a professional. It's important to find the right balance between rest to heal and movement to maintain and regain mobility.

During an inflammatory reaction, your body produces chemicals and cells that help start the muscle repair process. The healing process is divided into three parts:

1. Regeneration of muscle fibers and connective tissue

2. Formation of scar tissue

3. Maturation of scar tissue and remodelling

How Can the Risk of a Muscle Injury Be Reduced?

The following measures can help reduce the risk of muscle injury:

• Doing warm-up and cool-down exercises

• Maintaining good muscle strength and flexibility

• Proper posture

• Allowing enough time to heal from injury

• Proper rehab to regain full strength and function

Physiotherapy for Muscle Strain

An injury can happen to any muscle in the body, which makes it crucial to visit a physiotherapist and get treated when needed. If not, it can quickly affect the movement of the body. The injury can cause one or a combination of the following:

• Pain

• Swelling

• Decreased range of movement

• Heat

• Bruising

• Developing poor movement patterns as type of compensation for the pain

Muscle strain can be very painful for people in any age group. It is crucial for you to get quality treatment from a trained physiotherapist before the pain worsens. Contact us at Radiant Physiotherapy if you are looking for a treatment for your muscle strain.