Muscle Strains

One of the more common causes of acute pain that we see in our office is muscle strains, also known as “pulled muscles”. As we know, muscles attach to bones. The main job of a muscle is to move a joint, and it accomplishes this goal by shortening and elongating. When a muscle is irritated, by either over-exertion or repetitive strain, it reacts in a very unique way.

Here at Waldwick Family Chiropractic, we take pride in not only helping you alleviate muscle strains without the use of drugs or surgery but also educate you on how to prevent yourself from suffering from re-injury!

Why do Muscle Strains Occur?

Remember that the primary job of a muscle is to move a joint. When a joint becomes mechanically restricted it makes it more difficult for the muscle to perform the task that it’s designed to do, causing an increase in tension on the muscle. This excess tension can be a precursor to injuries like muscle strains.

Our Evaluation for Muscle Strains

After a thorough health history and consultation, you will undergo a detailed examination that helps us determine the severity of your muscle strain.

During the exam, one of our Waldwick Family Chiropractic team members will perform a range of motion examination, a neurologic examination, an orthopedic examination, and a complete spinal examination. 

Is your muscle strain the result of recent trauma or sporting injury; or are we dealing with more of a repetitive stress type injury that we commonly see with poor posture and workstation ergonomics? These are the questions that our comprehensive examination process will help us answer. 

Once we have determined the nature of your muscle strain pain and that you are a good candidate to receive chiropractic care, we will then assemble an individualized care plan that is designed to not only eliminate the pain and symptoms that you are presenting with but also treat the root cause of your back pain. 

Individualized Chiropractic Care Plans

Here at Waldwick Family Chiropractic, we diagnose and treat muscle strains on a daily basis. As with most new injuries, our primary goal in treating muscle strains is to help alleviate the pain and inflammation. We do this with several active and passive therapies such as electrical muscle stimulation, cupping, manual therapy, cryotherapy, etc.

As with all of the conditions that we treat, our focus is to not only treat the pain aspect of the condition but it is just as important to us to locate and treat the root cause of the injury. We find that utilizing the Chiropractic adjustment to restore proper mobility to the joint associated with the muscle not only aids in the healing process, but increases the efficiency of the biomechanics which in turn leads to a higher rate of injury resistance in the future.

Our individualized care plans usually consist of a combination of the following:

• Consistent Chiropractic Care

• Passive Therapies (Electric Muscle Stim, Mechanical Traction, Therapeutic Ultrasound, etc.)

• Active Therapies (Muscle work, cupping, neuromuscular training, etc.)

• Homecare recommendations

• In-office and at-home exercises

Why Should I See a Chiropractor For A Muscle Strain?

Traumatic Muscle Strain Injuries (Sports/Activity-Related Strains)

As we know, muscles attach to bones. The main job of a muscle is to move a bone, and it accomplishes this goal by shortening and elongating. Most of the muscles of the back find their origin or insertion on specific vertebral segments. 

Muscles also have a very rich blood supply, which allows them to receive the proper nutrition to heal rather quickly. When a muscle is irritated, by either over-exertion or repetitive strain, it reacts in a very unique way.

For example, a traumatic injury to a muscle such as over-exerting yourself on the squat rack at the gym can lead to a tear of the muscle fibers. And as a consequence, the muscle is not able to do its job and fully shorten because the muscle fibers themselves are no longer intact. 

This type of injury is usually associated with a particular “ouch moment” and is usually accompanied by a good degree of swelling and possibly bruising in the area of pain. The pain is usually localized to a particular area and is usually accompanied by palpable tenderness in the area of pain.

Most Common Traumatic Muscle Strain Injuries

• Hamstring

• Bicep

• Achilles (Calf)

• Quadriceps

• Achilles (Calf)
   

Repetitive Muscle Strain Injuries (Work-Related Strains)

Repetitive strain can be linked to poor ergonomics or posture and has quite a different presentation than a traumatic or acute type injury described above. When we are dealing with repetitive type injuries we are most often dealing with pain that has been manifesting itself over a period of time, also known as “chronic pain”. 

The muscle itself reacts to chronic pain by getting stuck in the shortened position. This often causes a buildup of muscular waste (or lactic acid) in the area, which in turn forms what is known as “trigger points'' in the muscle. 

Because the muscles are stuck in the shortened position, the muscle begins to lose access to some of its abundant blood supply, the muscle in return becomes much weaker. 

The pain presentation with this type of is a generalized “dull/achy” presentation that gets worse as the day progresses. This type of chronic presentation is usually not accompanied by a particular “ouch moment”, and is usually of unknown origin.

Most Common Repetitive Muscle Strain Injuries

• Hip Flexors

• Neck Muscles (Tech-Neck)

• Rotator Cuff Muscles

• Calf (Non-Achilles)

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Related Muscle Strain Resources

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