As a massage therapist, I hear many complaints of sore muscles.  The one I hear the most is, “I think I pulled a muscle.”  How does one know if they pulled a muscle or if it is something more?  Below is a list of common injuries, the cause and how to care for and prevent it in the future.

A strain(pulled muscle) is when a muscle or ligament is overstretched or forced to contract against too much resistance.  This causes separation or tearing of the muscle fibers.  There are three grades of strain:

• Grade 1 is where some muscle fibers have been stretched or torn.  You will feel slight tenderness and pain on active motion.  Movement is painful, but you can achieve full range of motion.
• Grade 2 is when you have torn several muscle fibers.  Active contraction of the muscle is very painful.  You will usually feel a depression in the muscle belly where the fibers are torn.  You may have broken capillaries and some swelling.
• Grade 3 is when you completely rupture the muscle.  You will have very little movement or none at all.  The pain will be intense but will dissipate due to nerve fiber separation.  This normally occurs in the bicep tendon or Achilles.

Muscle strains take quite a long time to heal.  They normally happen in the hamstring or quadriceps and the healing process can take up to 8 weeks.

A sprain is damage to a ligament typically at a joint.  If a joint is forced beyond the normal limit then injury may occur.  There are three types of sprain:

• Grade 1 is when there is some stretching and separation of the ligament fibers.  You can expect mild to moderate pain, localized swelling and stiffness of the joint.
• Grade 2 is when thee is some tearing and separation of the ligament fibers.  The joint will be stiff, moderate to severe pain and swelling.
• Grade 3 is complete tearing of the ligament.  The pain will be severe but dull over time due to nerve damage.  There will be massive swelling and the joint becomes stiff.

In all three cases, the join has become unstable.  In order to restore stability to the joint, the surrounding muscles and tendons must be strengthened.  Strength training is the way to go here.

Muscle Cramps are involuntary contractions of the muscle that typically occur  in the calf, abs or hamstrings.  They are usually quite painful.  Often they are a direct result of dehydration or lack of minerals(sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium or calcium.)  Obviously you want to rehydrate and up your vitamins.

I have a client who has had cramps his entire life.  He just started taking a multi-vitamin with the emphasis on the B-6.  His cramps have completely diminished.

Muscle Soreness typically happens when one overexerts themselves in a strenuous exercise.  There are two types of muscle soreness:

• Acute-Onset Muscle Soreness occurs during and immediately after exercise.  This comes from fatigued muscles.
• Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness appears approximately 12 hours after injury.  It lasts 24-48 hrs and gradually subsides so the person is pain free in 3-4 days.

Basically, you wrote a check your body couldn’t cash.  You need to start an exercise routine that is moderate in nature and gradually work on the intensity.

The human body is amazing.  When you take care of your body, it WILL take care of you.  Healthy muscles and joints bounce back quicker than those that are not healthy.  Eat properly, stretch and work out.  Your body will thank you.