If you have soft tissue damage to a muscle you might have the following
conditions. You will notice a decrease in the muscle strength due to
some nerve damage. This can be caused by the direct blow to the muscle
and from pain from the injury which causes inactivity. You will have
mild pain at the time of the injury or within twenty four hours. You
can have local tenderness and pain when the tissue is stressed. This
is the least severe of a soft tissue injury. Most of these type of
soft tissue injuries to muscles can be treated with rest and ice. When
the area is always inflamed you need to start treatment or consult
with your doctor. You can heal at
home from a mild soft tissue injury. You should rest and ice the area
the first twenty four to forty eight hours. You can apply a
compression bandage and elevate the injury if possible. You can also
message the area gently after you have applied ice.
You should not keep the area from being mobile and gently work the area
but avoid any severe pain. Your movement of the area should be just
enough so that the muscles are not stretched. Any movement should not
result in pain or more swelling. You should avoid any exercise
activity that involves the injured area. You should use the proper
dosage of rest and movement if the area is swollen or inflamed, which
will show up as pain when you try to move the area that is injured.
To help the area heal you can try some
gently isometric muscle movements. You should net feel any pain in the
muscle or joints. If you can tolerate this you should do it gently for
five to tem minutes then rest. You can also have a person message the
injury. Message serves the purpose of moving the fluid and should be
done softly to the injured area. When you message the injured muscle
you should not apply to much pressure to the area that is healing.
This will promote blood flow to the muscle and the surrounding area. You
should make sure to test the range of motion and move the area daily
to keep it from getting to stiff from in activity. You should start
stabilization and exercise for the range of motion to the injured
area.
You should not exercise the area to vigorously too soon as the muscle is
still healing. If you notice pain then the area is not healed. The new
muscle tissue is still connecting to the surrounding area and not
ready for full work outs. Because of the restricted use of the muscle
some weakness will be noticed. You need to stay within the tolerance
of the muscle that is damaged. If you notice inflammation then the
activity must be stopped. You can return to muscle exercise once the
area is free from pain and inflammation. You can try low intensity
high repetition exercise. Nothing to heavy and nothing of high
intensity work outs.
When you have progressed to where you can exercise with out pain you can
start to strengthen the muscle. You now stretch and do moderate work
out to add mobility and strength to the soft tissue injury or muscle
injury. There should be no signs of discomfort and you should notice
that the muscle are getting stronger and have more range of motion.
You should be able to resume normal sports activities or other
exercise activities. You should notice that you have returned to
normal demands of the sport or task without any recurring pain or
injury.
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