The treatment of muscle stretching can be performed at home with simple measures such as rest, use of ice and compressive ligation. However, in more severe cases it may be necessary to undergo physical therapy for a few weeks.
Muscle stretching is when the muscle stretches too much, during a physical activity, and for that reason it can happen in the gym, in a race or football, for example. This injury causes pain and limited movement, and can be classified into 3 different degrees, according to its severity. At level 1 only the muscle is affected, and at level three there is also a rupture of the fibers, requiring physiotherapeutic treatment.
Treatment options
In any case, for the treatment of muscle stretching, it is recommended to follow the following guidelines:
- Rest: the affected region must be kept at rest, without requiring too much of the muscles and joints, so it is not recommended to go to the gym and perform training, while there is no improvement in the condition, however absolute rest is not necessary, and you can maintain routine activities, work, and school; Ice: In the first 48 hours of the injury (or while you are still swollen), you can put crushed ice, or a frozen gel pouch, on top of the injury for 15-20 minutes, 3-4 times a day; Hot compress: After 48 hours (or after deflating) you can place a warm compress on the spot, allowing it to act for about 20 minutes; Put on an elastic bandage: if it is swollen, another strategy that can help to deflate is to put an elastic bandage to fight the swelling; Lymphatic drainage: if the area has turned purple or bloody what you can do at home is to slide a fine comb over your lesion, if it was closer to the groin, it will always slide in that direction, and if it was closer to the knee, it should slide smoothly towards the knee; Postural drainage: it is also indicated to deflate, so just put your leg up, on the arm of the sofa, for example; Massage: another possibility is to do a small massage with medications containing camphor and menthol; Physiotherapy: it is indicated in the most serious situations when there is a rupture of the muscle, which makes everything super purple, and there are electrotherapy devices to help you recover faster, and a series of exercises and equipment such as ultrasound that can be done only with gel or medications, tension, laser, paraffin or others; Gentle stretching: consists of stretching the affected muscle just a little bit, without causing pain, for a few seconds, repeatedly throughout the day. Check out some examples of leg stretches Isometric exercises: it can help in recovery to do some exercises, which consists of contracting the muscle, without moving the arm or leg. The technique of contracting relaxes can be repeated 10-20 times, but always slowly and without causing pain. It is a sign of excessive exercise when the pain does not subside after 4 hours and does not disappear after 24 hours, when this happens, it is necessary to change the exercises performed in rehabilitation.
And in addition to all this, it is still important to take care of the food, preferring foods that help in healing, and that is why it is recommended to eat more protein-rich foods, such as milk, meat and eggs, and to decrease sweets, because these delay the healing of tissues.
The use of medications is not always indicated, being reserved only for the most severe cases, when there is muscle breakdown and intense hematoma. In this case, the doctor may recommend taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and infiltrating corticosteroids in some cases.
The physiotherapist must personally indicate the treatment protocol that will be performed during treatment after the investigation, because this is just an example of what can be done, and can be changed, as needed.
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