Muscles strains involve damage to your muscle tissue. According to HealthCentral.com, Americans visit the doctor an average of 4.5 million times each year as the result of a muscle strain or sprain. You should use the RICE formula to treat your strain. During the treatment phase, you should not engage in any exercise that involves the affected muscle.
Muscle Strain Basics
Muscle strains occur when you tear your muscle tissue. The intensity of your strain is graded according to three levels. Grade 1 strains involve tears to only a few muscle fibers. While they can be tender, painful and involve minor swelling, they do not reduce the strength of the muscle. Grade 2 strains involve tearing of a significant amount of muscle tissue. Your muscle will be noticeably weaker, and bruising may occur. Grade 3 strains involve a tear along the entire length of your muscle. You will not be able to utilize the muscle at all.
Rest
The first step of the RICE — rest, ice, compression and elevation — treatment formula is to rest your strained muscle. This includes protecting your muscle from further injury, such as by using crutches or a sling. The length of rest time required for your injury depends on the severity of the strain, ranging from three days to four weeks. During this period of rest, you should not perform any exercises that involve your strained muscle. Exercising your strained muscle can cause your tears to worsen. However, you can still exercise unaffected muscle groups.
Ice and Heat
The second step of the RICE treatment formula is to apply ice to your strained muscle. Ice will help reduce the swelling and pain caused by your injury. You should apply ice for 20 minutes of every waking hour. Never apply ice directly to your skin. After pain and swelling decrease, you can begin using heat to treat your strain. Using heat will increase the rate of healing by improving circulation at the injury site. This is especially helpful before stretching and warming up once you begin rehabilitating your injured muscle.
Compression
The third step of the RICE treatment formula is to apply compression to your strained muscle. You can use an elastic wrap to provide compression. Compression will help minimize swelling from your injury. Ensure that you do not wrap your injury tightly, because this can compromise circulation at the site.
Elevation
The final step of the RICE treatment formula is to elevate your strained muscle. Elevating the injury will help reduce swelling. For example, if you have a strained thigh muscle, you can elevate your leg by resting it on pillows. In addition, you can use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs — NSAIDs — such as aspirin and ibuprofen to further reduce pain and swelling.
References
- eMedicineHealth; Muscle Strain; Shahram Lotfipour, M.D., et al.
- Drugs.com: Muscle Strain
- HealthCentral.com; Muscle Strain; August 2007
- Aurora Health Care; Muscle Strain; Robert Leach, M.D.
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Muscle Strain Treatment — Overview
- FreeMD — Your Virtual Doctor: Quadriceps Muscle Strain — Treatment
