Strain or sprain?

September 16, 2016 11:13 am Published by
What’s the difference?  You strain a muscle and sprain a ligament.
Muscle strain (Oxford Medical Dict) “Excessive stretching or working of muscle resulting in pain and swelling”.
Muscle strains most commonly occur at the musculo-tendinous joint (MTJ), where the muscle connects to the bone, this tends to be the weakest point.
The severity is dependent on the quantity of fibres involved and the degree of damage. Muscle strains are graded from 1 to 3, with grade 1 being mild pain and minimum loss of function to grade 3 being a complete rupture and total loss of function.
Ligament sprain (Oxford Medical Dict) “An injury to a ligament caused by overstretching”.
The majority of ligament sprains self-heal adequately but can often takes 6 to 8 weeks.  Healing will be promoted by ice, mobilisation, and strengthening for additional joint stability.

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This post was written by Chris Wood

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