Muscle tear is a serious and fairly frequent injury. If you do not resort to treatment, unpleasant consequences can occur. Treatment of muscle tears is a set of procedures aimed at ridding a person of pain syndromes, removing blood from the hematoma formed at the site of tearing, carrying out rehabilitation measures to heal the injury and return to normal life.
Muscle treatment must be carried out in order not to lead to complications such as blood inflammation in the hematoma and complete muscle breakdown, since the consequences of this can be most detrimental - up to the complete loss of mobility of the limb that was injured.
The calf muscle tear quite often occurs in athletes as a result of a jerk, when pushing off the ground or, conversely, landing from a great height. In addition, muscle tears can occur during fast runs over long or short distances.
Far from sports people can also get a tear of the calf muscle. It can arise as a result of a fall from a height, amateur football, a fall from a skateboard. In children - during ordinary games with friends in the yard (catch-ups, climbing trees, long jumps).
Symptoms and causes of muscle breakdown
Symptoms of any muscle tear (for example, thigh muscles) are the same:
- sharp pain at the time of the injury,
- painful or uncomfortable sensations after an injury, aggravated by attempts to move a leg, rise,
- swelling in the area of tear.
If you experience pain, especially if you suspect a muscle damage, you should immediately contact a specialist at a medical center.
Symptomatology
Symptoms of rupture are almost identical for all muscles - pain appears, the strength of which depends on the severity of the injury. Gradually, edema occurs at the site of damage, and if a large number of fibers burst, bruising may occur. Muscle tension intensifies the pain syndrome, which affects the movement - the victim involuntarily limits them in the area of injury, and with a complete break it is simply impossible.
Signs of a complete break:
- Sudden intense pain.
- After stopping acute pain, pain is felt for a long time.
- The range of motion is limited.
- A change in the color of the skin at the site of damage in the form of a bruise or discoloration.
- Edema of varying severity.
- Feeling of cramps.
- Muscle spasm.
- Muscle tissue becomes stiff and the muscle weakens.
In case of partial rupture or sprains, the injured muscle is harsh during palpation, but remains flexible enough and functions normally.
First aid
First aid for stretching and rupturing the muscles and ligamentous apparatus is based on the immobilization of the damage zone and the application of an ice compress.
First aid algorithm:
- Protect tense muscles from further damage. To do this, remove everything that squeezes the injury zone and position the body so that it completely relaxes.
- The injured muscle should be at rest, actions that lead to tension and other measures that provoke soreness should be avoided.
- The application of a cold compress on the affected area should be carried out hourly during wakefulness. Keep it allowed no more than 20 minutes. Ice is an effective anti-inflammatory drug that can relieve pain. Packets with ice, frozen vegetables or a piece of meat are applied to the injury site only through the protective layer of the material, and not directly onto the skin, which will help to avoid frostbite.
- Compression with this injury is useful, but it should be done carefully so as not to further damage the affected area. An elastic bandage that will help to reduce swelling and pain syndrome does a good job of this.
- It is desirable to place the affected area above the body itself.
- All manipulations that provoke muscle pain or affect the affected area of the body are not allowed to be performed until the main signs of damage are stopped.
Next, it is necessary to deliver the victim to a medical institution where there is traumatology and orthopedics. There, specialists will provide qualified assistance to the patient.
Diagnostics
Diagnosis, with almost all muscle breaks, does not cause difficulties. Only with a partial or closed rupture can a specialist have a number of doubts about the accuracy of the diagnosis, which means that the need for an additional clinical examination is radiography, CT, and ultrasound.
How to treat muscle rupture
What treatment method is needed for muscle breaks? In case there has been a partial damage to the muscle apparatus, it will be enough to apply a fixing plaster cast. During this procedure, the injured limb must be placed in a position in which the edges of the damaged fibers are brought together to the maximum.
The need for immediate surgical surgery arises only if a complete muscle rupture has occurred. The seam at break, which occurred in the muscle itself, impose in the form of the letter "P".
Surgical intervention is also necessary when the tendons are torn off, when at the end of the muscle a characteristic separation of the fibers does not occur, and the tendon, or rather its end, will be among the muscle fibers.
If the victim receives timely and correct treatment, the prognosis will be favorable and over time there will be a complete restoration of the lost muscle functions.
The recovery period after a rupture of the muscle apparatus takes up to two months. Throughout this period, the victim should attend physiotherapy sessions and develop an injured muscle on their own.
If the necessary therapeutic therapy is absent, then the risk of the formation of gross scars that provoke the restriction of anatomical mobility in the damaged limb increases.
Important! It is strictly forbidden to conduct an independent treatment of muscle rupture, since as a result of improper therapy, quite serious complications can arise, up to the loss of working capacity.
Do not delay with the diagnosis and treatment of the disease!
Activities for the treatment of muscle tear
In addition to conducting an infiltration blockade, the doctor can prescribe a set of measures.
1. Taking a medication - usually experts prescribe Wobenzym in an amount of 9 to 15 tablets per day. This drug promotes accelerated healing of injured muscles, activates recovery processes. Wobenzym is taken for at least two weeks, often its use lasts up to three weeks. The only contraindication is the children's age of the patient. If the child is less than 5 years old, taking the drug is not recommended.
2. For topical use, heparin-containing ointments are prescribed to the patient in order to avoid blood coagulation in the damaged muscle.
3. To ensure rest and immobilization of the damaged muscles, gypsum is applied to the injured area of the limb or any other fixation of the painful area is made in order to make it immobilized.
4. If the hematoma was not detected by ultrasound, but formed, the blood must be removed - as an option, using hirudotherapy.
5. If the entire necessary set of measures for the rehabilitation of the damaged muscle has not been made and, as a result, a complete gap has arisen, surgery is performed.
For ordinary patients, all of the above measures are enough for the rehabilitation of muscles after tears for three weeks. As for the athletes, they need special conditions corresponding to the level of their physical fitness. Often, training begins already on the fifth day after the injury - however, they touch only those muscles of the body that are above the level of the belt.
On the tenth day after the injury, training in the pool is allowed. As for the run, it should be smooth, after it ice is applied to the affected area. In any case, the decision to train is made by the attending physician.
