A muscle strain happens when your muscle experiences so much force that the tissue starts to tear. The tear can occur within the muscle, in the tendon, or where the tendon and muscle meet. You can evaluate the severity of a strain by how much motion or strength you lose, which also indicates your recovery time. Muscle strains are categorized into three grades based on their severity.
Grade 1 strains cause minimal damage to individual muscle fibers. Grade 2 strains involve more significant damage and typically take two to three months to heal. Grade 3 strains are the most severe, involving a complete rupture of the tendon or muscle, often requiring surgery and a longer recovery period. However, there are ways to speed up your recovery. Here are seven methods to help you recover faster from a muscle strain.
Shockwave therapy is a reliable option if your muscle strain needs surgery, but you’re not ready for it. This treatment uses a handheld device called an ESWT machine, which sends acoustic pressure waves to the affected area. These waves boost metabolism and blood flow, stimulating the cells that repair damaged tissue. As a result, shockwave therapy can treat various musculoskeletal disorders like muscle strains without surgery or drugs.
Staying active during muscle strain recovery is crucial to ensure the surrounding muscles don’t weaken. Physical therapy can expedite your recovery by promoting muscle healing and strength, reducing the chance of re-injury. A physical therapist can create a regimen of stretching and therapeutic exercises tailored to maintain your range of motion and flexibility. They can also help identify the root cause of your muscle strain and adjust your recovery goals.
Compression garments are tight-fitting clothes worn on different parts of the body to provide support. They help reduce muscle damage, inflammation, pain, fatigue, and soreness, thereby speeding up recovery. These garments, which include knee sleeves, full-length tights, calf sleeves, socks, quad sleeves, and both short and long-sleeve shirts, minimize muscle vibration and enhance muscle control during specific activities.
If you regularly experience muscle soreness in certain body parts, it’s wise to choose compression sleeves for those areas. Some compression clothes offer additional support with greater compression, while others provide more flexibility.
Cold therapy, or cryotherapy, involves using cold compresses, ice baths, nitrogen chambers, or ice packs on the affected area. Excess inflammation can lead to overuse injuries, so cold therapy helps reduce inflammation, lowering the risk of muscle injury and soreness. Applying cold to a muscle strain can shorten recovery time, especially when used within 24 to 72 hours after an injury. While generally safe, liquid nitrogen therapy and cryotherapy chambers are not suitable for people with heart conditions, specific autoimmune conditions, high blood pressure, children, or pregnant women.
Heat therapy involves applying warmth to the whole body or the affected area, raising its temperature and boosting blood flow and circulation. This is beneficial for stiff and tight muscles and can be dry heat (like heat wraps and heating pads) or moist heat (such as saunas and warm baths). Heat therapy soothes muscles and helps with delayed-onset muscle soreness. It can also be used during rehabilitation to reduce muscle mass loss and improve muscular contraction. However, avoid applying heat to an acute injury too soon, as it can increase swelling. Start with cold therapy, then transition to heat to promote blood flow to the affected area.
Massages are widely known for relieving stress and pain but are also effective for speeding up muscle recovery. Massages reduce muscle inflammation, and the treated cells can produce new mitochondria, aiding quick recovery from muscle injuries caused by physical activity. Massage activates molecules that enhance mitochondrial growth and reduce inflammation, thus shortening recovery time.
Adequate sleep is critical for muscle recovery. Deep sleep, or slow-wave/non-REM sleep, is essential for muscle healing and restoration. During this phase, blood pressure drops, breathing slows, and muscle blood supply increases, providing more nutrients and oxygen necessary for muscle recovery and growth.
Depending on the severity of your muscle strain, recovery may take some time. However, following these tips can help you recover faster and get back to your daily routine sooner.