Strecth Muscular injury

It lies within the traumatic muscle injury. It is classified as indirect muscle injury, because the energy of the trauma does not occur directly on the muscle area that is anatomically changed. It is caused by an elongation of the muscle fibers in addition to its physiological state. The most common site is the miotendinosa junction or distal region of the muscle belly. It is among the most common injuries in sports and significantly modifies the training habits and competition from practitioners.

The extent and severity of the lesions are based on the number and extent of the damaged fibers. We can divide these lesions in three stages:

Grade I - is the stretching of a small amount of muscle fibers (lesion within 5% of the muscle). The pain is localized at a specific point, it arises during muscle contraction against resistance and can disappear at home. Minimal damage occurs, bleeding is small, the resolution is rapid and functional limitation is light. The edema may be present, but usually is not noted on physical examination. Have a good prognosis and the restoration of the fibers is relatively fast. It takes about two weeks to heal.

Grade II - The number of injured fibers and severity of lesions are larger (the injury reaches between 5% and 50% of the muscle). the same features of the first degree injury are found, but with greater intensity. Is accompanied by pain, moderate bleeding (bruise or hematoma), more exuberant local inflammatory process and greater decrease in function. The problem of treatment is slower. It takes about 8 to 10 weeks to heal.

Grade III - This injury usually occurs triggering a complete rupture of the muscle or much of it (injury affects more than 50% of the muscle), resulting in a severe loss of function in the presence of a palpable and visible defect. Pain may range from moderate to very intense, caused by the passive muscle contraction. The edema and hemorrhage are large (large hematoma). Depending on the location of the injured muscle in relation to surrounding skin, edema, ecchymosis, and bruising may be visible, often by locating it in a position distal to the lesion due to the force of gravity displaces the blood volume produced as a result of injury . It can take up to six months to heal.

The diagnosis is essentially clinical and ultrasound, MRI and CT complement well this assessment. Of these three, the ultrasound is considered as the ideal method.

The activity or sport that caused the injury should be avoided to the most committed cura.Quanto the patient is with treatment, the better the results, and so it is important to follow all the guidelines of the Medical and Physical Therapist for full recovery muscle strain.

 Physio, Cátia Viegas text