Muscle tears, strains or pulls go by a number of different names. But they all generally refer to damage to a muscle or its attaching tendons. Broadly speaking they can occur when muscles are put under undue and unexpected pressure during the course of normal daily activities.
As well as the tear to the muscle fibre and the tendons attached to the muscle, a torn muscle can also damage small blood vessels and cause local bleeding, or bruising. This can lead to debilitating pain due to the irritation of the nerve endings in the area.
Some of the symptoms of torn muscles include swelling, bruising, or redness, weakness of the muscle or tendons and a complete inability to use the muscle.
At Physio Health Clinic the treatments for muscle tears can vary from education and advice on load management, to taping, dry needling and practical soft tissue treatment.
Additionally, primary physiotherapist, Andrew is invested in avoiding muscle tears and protecting the area from re-injury by educating on a number of preventative measures. These include education on and prescription of a proper warm-up and cool-down routine, easing muscle tightness and fatigue, addressing muscle strength imbalances, ensuring previous injuries are healed and correcting faulty biomechanics.