Muscle Strains

A muscle strain is an injury to one of your muscles that causes it to tear. They’re one of the most common injuries, especially among athletes.

Strains are classified with three grades to indicate how severe they are. Most people can recover by resting their muscle and using at-home treatments like ice and over-the-counter medicine. If you’re feeling pain for a few weeks after your injury or have severe symptoms, see your healthcare provider.

What is the difference between a muscle strain and a pulled muscle?

There’s no difference between a strained muscled and a pulled muscle. People use the terms interchangeably. The same is true for a strained muscle and a torn muscle. They’re the same injury with the same symptoms and treatments.

Muscle strains vs. hernias

Muscles strains and hernias can both be caused by overuse, but they’re different injuries.

Muscles strains are caused by tears in the fibers of your muscles. Unless they’re very severe, you can treat a muscle strain at home with rest, icing and over-the-counter medicine.

Hernias happen when one of your internal organs or other body parts breaks through the wall of muscle or tissue that normally holds it in place. Hernias usually don’t get better on their own, and you’ll probably need surgery to repair one.

Muscle strains and other injuries

There are lots of common injuries that cause muscle pain similar to muscle strains, including:

• Pinched nerves.
• Herniated disks.
• Blood clots.

Talk to your provider if you experience any sudden, sharp pain in your body, especially if it happens during physical activity like a workout or playing sports.

Who do muscle strains affect?

Muscle strains can affect anyone. They’re common in athletes and people who are especially active.

Even if you don’t play sports or work out often, you can still strain a muscle, especially if you suddenly exert yourself much harder than you usually do.

How common are muscle strains?

Muscle strains are very common. They’re one of the most common injuries people experience.

How do muscle strains affect my body?

Muscle strains happen when you tear a muscle. They’re painful. They might also cause other symptoms like bruising and weakness.

Your muscles are made of thousands of small fibers woven together. These fibers stretching and pressing together are what allow your body to move when you squeeze a muscle.

When you overuse a muscle, the strands of muscle fiber are stretched beyond their limit and tear apart. If you’ve ever tried to use an old bungee cord to hold something in place you’ve seen this happen.

New bungee cords — and healthy muscle fibers — have plenty of give and stretch. But if you use them for too long or suddenly jerk on them too hard, the elastic fibers in the bungee cord will start to pull apart. It’s the same way in your muscles. Strains are what happens when some of the thousands of fibers in your muscles are pulled beyond their limit and tear.

You can strain muscles anywhere in your body. Some of the most common include:

• Hamstring.
• Calf.
• Chest.
• Back.
• Biceps.
• Abdominal (abs).