- Muscle Strains
It’s never fun to wake up to a muscle strain, especially after a long day of working out or just being on your feet all day. However, muscle strains are some of the most common injuries. They can be painful, frustrating, and limit your movement.
When muscles become overly tight and stretch beyond their limits, they can tear when put back in their natural resting position. Strains usually occur in the muscle itself or in the tendons, which connect muscle to bone. The result is usually pain and swelling at the injury site.
Sunrise muscle strains treatment at Specific Care Chiropractic can help you bounce back to health! We offer a range of treatments, including physiotherapy and chiropractic adjustments tailored to your specific injury. Our team can work with you to heal that strain, so you can get back to living your life.
What Are the Causes of Muscle Strains?
The muscles in your body perform an extensive range of functions, so strains can have many causes. Any time you use a muscle forcefully or repeatedly without letting it rest, you risk damaging those muscle fibers.
Some common causes of muscle strains include:
Repetitive Movement
Working out at the gym builds up your muscles in specific ways. But if you do those exercises repeatedly without giving your muscles a break, you can cause muscle strain. This damages the muscles, resulting in inflammation. It’s important to listen to your body and take breaks during workouts — your body knows when it needs rest.
Unbalanced Activities
Working out one side of your body too much can cause a strain on the other side. This is especially true if you’re exercising with weights. You should try to balance your workout routine and choose exercises that equally engage both sides of your body.
Not Warming Up Properly Before Physical Activity
Your body is like a finely tuned car engine, and if you don’t warm it up before that long road trip, things can break down. A great example of this is tearing your Achilles tendon while playing a sport. Your Achilles tendon is specifically designed to help you run faster and jump higher, but it won’t be ready to handle constant athletic movement if you don’t warm it up properly.
Try incorporating some dynamic stretches into your warm-up as well. Dynamic stretching encourages movement and helps keep your muscles loose and limber to handle all the activity better.
Poor Conditioning
If you’ve been sedentary for some time, your muscles are less likely to be strong and flexible. They won’t be conditioned enough to handle an excessive amount of work right away. If you do too much too soon, it can lead to muscle strains.
Overexertion and Fatigue
It’s important to leave some energy in the tank when working out so that an unexpected strain doesn’t happen because you pushed too hard.
The bottom line is that if you want to prevent muscle strains, it’s important to listen to your body. When you’re starting out a new activity or increasing the intensity, pay attention so that you don’t push yourself too hard or too fast. Make sure you’re well-rested and prepared.
Signs and Symptoms of Muscle Strain
The signs and symptoms of a muscle strain include:
- Pain in the injured area that worsens over time
- Stiffness in the injured area
- Tenderness to touch in the injured area
- Swelling in the area around the injury
- Lack of strength or mobility in the injured area
- Redness in the area of injury
- Pain at rest
Treatment of Muscles Trains in Sunrise
Diagnosing muscle strains can be difficult, as the symptoms are similar to those of other injuries. In most cases, a physical exam is performed to assess the injury site and determine the severity of the injury.
The doctor will ask questions about your symptoms, including when you first noticed them and how long they’ve been bothering you. The doctor may also ask if you have any pain or tenderness when they gently push on the injured area. Your doctor may also perform a few tests to check for muscle weakness and rule out other types of injuries.
X-rays may be taken to rule out fractures or other injuries. X-rays can show a bone fracture or chip that requires treatment before resuming normal activity.
Chiropractic Adjustments
If you have a muscle strain, your chiropractor can help treat it by determining the cause of the injury and making an adjustment to the affected area. This adjustment is made to relieve pressure on the inflamed or strained muscle, tendon, or ligament.
In addition to relieving pain, chiropractic adjustment aims to correct any misalignment contributing to your injury. A chiropractic adjustment is often referred to as a “crack” because it involves putting pressure on two vertebrae to release tension and allow them to realign properly.
Physiotherapy
Another treatment for muscle strains is physiotherapy. Physiotherapists will help you with exercises that improve the strength and flexibility of the muscles around your injured area. When provided in an early phase, physiotherapy has been shown to be effective in preventing musculoskeletal injuries.
Physiotherapists use a variety of techniques for treating different injuries and conditions. Most treatments include exercises that strengthen muscles, improve flexibility and mobility, and reduce pain.
Physiotherapy treatment options include:
- Stretching exercises
- Massage techniques
- Ultrasound therapy
- Electrical muscle stimulation
- Rehabilitative therapy
- Corrective techniques
Get Sunrise Muscle Strains Treatment
If you have a muscle strain, our chiropractors in Sunrise are ready to help. Our team at Specific Care Chiropractic can provide diagnosis, offer treatment options, and recommend steps you can take to help prevent another injury. We’ll give you practical advice on how to best manage your muscle strain.
Call us at 239-369-9109 to schedule a consultation today.