Muscles make up over half of the weight of a human body and they are required to make even the smallest of movements such as nodding your head or tapping your toe.  If too much stretch is put through one of your muscles you may end up with a painful muscle strain. If a similar type of injury occurred to one of the ligaments in your body, it is termed a sprain.

A muscle strain, or a muscle pull occurs when a muscle in your body is overstretched or overworked.

3 main classification:

Grade I (mild): Very few muscle fibers have been injured. Pain may not be felt until the following day after the instigating activity. Using the injured muscle will hurt. No swelling or bruising is noted.

Grade II (moderate): Many muscle fibers are torn causing limited strength and range of motion. Pain is present both when stretching and contracting. Swelling and bruising may be noted.

Grade III (severe): All fibers of the muscle are completely torn. This means that the muscle is completely torn into two parts or the muscle belly has torn from its attachment to the tendon.  Severe swelling, pain, and bruising accompany a grade III strain. 
[This may require surgical intervention]

3 treatments to do right away: (acute stage)

1. Ice and compress - 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off. 5 times a day. Throughout the day.
    
2. Very light stretching - the muscle has been injured. Rest and avoid over-stretching.
    
3. Electrical stimulation, Ultrasounds - to help decrease pain and control the amount of inflammation. Mild inflammation is needed for recovery. We are trying to control excessive inflammation. 
   

As you gradually recover, we will advise you to gradually return to prior activities, with safety measures. 

Give us a call to try out our Electrical Stimulation and Ice to get that inflammation down!

347-220-8195