Sprain of tendons, ligaments, muscles is, as a rule, the result of exorbitant load on the ligaments of the joints, which occurs suddenly and for various reasons.
Causes of stretching
The knee or foot can be pulled in case of a sharp landing after the jump, and the muscles of the thigh occurs when improperly executed repulsive movement, for example, when skating. The ligaments of the wrist stretch as a result of falling onto an even arm, when the entire body mass is transferred to the wrist, and the back muscles - when trying to lift weights, on “flat” legs and with a straight back. There are frequent cases when the stretching of the muscles of the legs occurs due to the unprepared and hasty performance of sports exercises for the development of flexibility, they can be both light and heavy.
Symptoms of sprains and first aid
The appearance of swelling and pain are the main primary symptoms that indicate a slight stretching of the muscles of the legs or arms. In this situation, you should calm down and rest, you can take an anesthetic, apply a cold compress using ice from the refrigerator, frozen meat, vegetables or a bottle of water. Cold compresses significantly reduce the degree of the inflammatory process, relieve swelling, reduce pain. Compresses must be applied for half an hour with a break of 40 minutes during the first day, then for 20 minutes at intervals of 2 hours - over the next two days. Slight stretching of the leg muscles usually does not last long and lasts for several days, however, the treatment process in many cases must be continued, intensive loads should be canceled, the number of training sessions should be reduced so as not to provoke an exacerbation.
In cases of severe damage, the muscles do not contract, which may indicate a rupture of muscle tissue. In this case, you need to go to bed, make a pressure bandage and urgently seek medical help.
In cases where severe muscle strain occurs, treatment is carried out only by a specialized doctor. Sports activities and other physical activities are excluded for the entire rehabilitation period, which can last several months, since with severe muscle strain, long courses of physiotherapy and surgical intervention are often required.
Treatments for stretching at home
When stretching the muscles, it is recommended to lubricate damaged areas of the body with ready-made preparations and creams, which contain collagen. Collagen support occurs when there is a slight stretching of the muscles of the legs, it is necessary until the period of complete restoration of protein balance in muscle tissue and to reduce pain.
Since muscle strain always occurs unexpectedly, such a cream may not be at home. No need to despair, ordinary gelatin, the richest source of collagen, can come to the rescue. Try this: a tablespoon of dry gelatin pour 125-130 grams of cold water and leave to swell for 25-30 minutes. After half an hour, the swollen gelatin must be brought to a liquid state in a water bath and mixed with fat sour cream or milk cream, cooled to a jelly-like consistency and greased all damaged areas with it.
You can use another way: take the raw protein of an ordinary chicken egg, apply it abundantly on dense tissue and apply it to a part of the body where there is pain and swelling from muscle strain. This method is most common when stretching the muscles of the neck. It is recommended to withstand an egg compress for about an hour.
There are other methods of traditional medicine for the treatment of stretch marks, but in any case, you should consult a doctor before taking it.