Feeling sore after some hard labor? Wondering just exactly what that pain means? Be careful, and make sure you educate yourself on muscle injuries. Torn muscles can be easily mistaken as sore, especially if the tear is mild. Knowing what's wrong is essential to healing your injury--and preventing the next.
Definition
A torn muscle is the same thing as a "strained" or "pulled" muscle. A tear occurs when muscle fibers rip under one of two conditions: under the force of contraction (caused by the stress you place on it) or by repeated and exhaustive stretching (usually the result of over-working the muscle). These tears usually occur near where the muscle attaches to the tendon. The more fibers torn, the worse the overall muscle tear.
Symptoms
Luckily for you, muscle tears are easy to identify. The tears occur abruptly, often feeling like a tightening of the muscles accompanied by pain. In order to tell the difference between a tear and a simple sore muscle, do a self-check: Rather than feeling soreness and pain throughout a number of different muscles, muscle tears are isolated, occurring in a specific part of a muscle. If you have a muscle tear, you should be able to pinpoint the location with a little poking and prodding. And remember, torn muscles are felt instantly. You don't wake up with one.
Misconceptions
While checking for the symptoms, you'll also want to make sure you haven't mistaken a muscle tear for a different kind of isolated muscle injury. According to SaveYourself.ca, this includes charlie horses, cramps, and spasms, muscle knots (usually the result of a muscle spasm), delayed onset muscle soreness (which most of us get after a particularly rigorous or out-of-character workout), or lower back pain, which is often misdiagnosed as the result of muscle strain.
Treatment
According to the SportsDoctor.com, once you have torn a muscle, you should quit exercising immediately and apply ice to the injured area. Continued use of the muscle will only increase the number of fibers torn and the severity of the injury. Wrap the injury in an Ace bandage to apply compression, and elevate the injury to reduce blood flow. In the days following, ice the injury for 15 minutes four times a day. Be careful and cautious when you resume exercising. A re-injury of the torn muscle could become a chronic problem.
Prevention
To avoid torn muscles, simply stretch thoroughly prior to activity. Many injuries occur to muscles that have not been warmed up. If you're engaging in a new activity or one you haven't done for a while, be sure to take it slow and ease yourself into conditioning. It's important to know your limits!
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