Any physical activity that one way or another is present in the life of every person can lead to unpleasant consequences. One of them is stretching the muscles of the arm. How do you know if you need medical attention, and what are the treatments for this injury?
Why is this happening?
Stretching the muscles of the hand is damage to soft tissues without disturbing their uniformity, in rare cases, tears of the fibers can occur. The injury occurs due to the fact that the muscles are affected by a physical force that stretches the fibers on one side, while the opposite side is fixed. This force must be significantly higher than the tissue resistance.
Thus, arm strain most often occurs in the following cases:
- Work related to hand movements. This directly applies to loaders, athletes, workers.
- Physical exercises that put a lot of stress on the hands - push-ups, pull-ups.
- Unfortunate fall.
In young childrenthe injury occurs during active games or a sharp sip on the limb by one of the adults.
What are sprains?
There are three degrees of hand strain that require different approaches and have different symptoms:
- The first degree is characterized by minor damage. The pain is moderate and increases with the rotation of the brush. Most often, therapy is not required, as discomfort disappears within a few days on its own.
- The second degree is manifested by acute pain, which also increases with movement, in addition, swelling of the injured limb appears.
- Severe degree is caused by a partial rupture of muscle tissue or ligaments. In this case, there is quite severe pain, significant swelling and hemorrhage.
It is also noted that sprains can be acute or chronic. If an acute one occurs as a result of any traumatic actions, then a chronic one is formed when performing the same type of hard work in which the hands are involved.
Symptoms
The main sign by which you can self-diagnose an injury is pain. It comes on suddenly and is permanent. However, there are other symptoms of arm strain:
- swelling of injured wrist;
- hemorrhages that look like hematomas;
- redness of the skin;
- unpleasant contractions in muscle tissue;
- significant difficulty in movement.
Bin some cases, there may be a pulsation in the injured limb, the temperature rises at the site of injury, which indicates an inflammatory process.
First Aid
When stretching the muscles and ligaments of the hand, it is necessary to perform some pre-hospital measures. It is more convenient if there is a person next to the victim who can provide such assistance, however, if at the time of the injury the person was alone, then self-help is also acceptable. In this case, you should perform the following actions:
- the injured limb must be immobilized with an elastic bandage;
- for severe pain, you can take painkillers or apply ice to the damaged area.
It is strictly forbidden to rub or knead the sore spot, as this can only aggravate the problem. It is very important to consult a traumatologist so that he can prescribe treatment and rule out more serious injuries such as fractures.
Diagnosis
If you suspect a muscle strain, you should consult a traumatologist who will prescribe such studies that are necessary to make the correct diagnosis:
- general blood test, which will indicate the presence of an inflammatory process in the body;
- X-ray is necessary to clarify the localization of the rupture of muscle fibers;
- Magnetic resonance imaging is necessary in cases where an x-ray is not enough to diagnose an injury, and this method of examination is also considered the safest;
- Ultrasound helps to find outgeneral condition of muscle and connective fibers;
- arthroscopy - a procedure that involves the introduction through small punctures of the optical system; it is necessary in case of suspected torn ligaments.
Diagnostic data helps determine how to treat hand strain.
Treatment
Most often these injuries are minor and therefore do not require close medical attention, and therapy can be carried out at home. However, a medical consultation is still necessary to make sure that the sprain does not endanger the further mobility of the limb.
At first, it is advisable to apply ice to the sore spot every 4 hours, so you can not only relieve pain, but also significantly reduce soft tissue swelling. At the same time, the time of a single application should not exceed 30 minutes, so as not to frostbite the skin.
After a few days, the ice should be replaced by warming alcohol compresses, but all attempts to warm up the damaged area by rubbing and massaging are strictly prohibited.
In addition, ointments are also used for stretching the muscles and ligaments of the hand. Most often, drugs with an analgesic effect are prescribed, such as Ketonal, Nurofen, Dolobene. Also, ointments for stretching the muscles of the hand can have a vascular restorative effect. These are drugs such as Troxevasin, Nikoven.
Peculiarities of treatment in children
Stretching the muscles of the arm in children can bediagnosed not immediately, because with minor pain, the child may simply not attach importance to them and not tell their parents in a timely manner. However, attentive parents will be alerted by the fact that it is difficult for the baby to perform certain movements with the hands, and the wrist is swollen. In this case, it is necessary to apply a tight bandage with an elastic bandage, because the child is not able to consciously control the movements of the hand and may forget that sudden movements are undesirable.
Otherwise, the therapy is the same as treatment in adults with one caveat - painkillers should be given to the child, taking into account age and weight.
Recovery period
Healing time depends on the severity of the injury. Most often, minor injuries go away without treatment for stretching the muscles of the arm in 7-10 days. This is due to the fact that muscle tissue is well supplied with blood vessels and its recovery occurs quite quickly even with significant damage. In some cases, rehabilitation may be needed, which includes massage, a set of physiotherapy and therapeutic exercises. In this case, all manipulations with the injured limb must be performed by qualified specialists as prescribed by the attending physician.
Folk recipes
Alternative medicine methods also have a place among the treatments for hand strains. However, it is important to consult your doctor before starting such self-treatment. If athe decision was approved by him, then you can try the following traditional medicine:
- Compress of grated raw potato with onion and sugar. It must be applied to the affected area for 20 minutes 2 times a day.
- Crushed garlic must be mixed with melted animal fat, then add eucalyptus or mint leaves to the mixture. After hardening, rub the resulting ointment into the injured area 2 times a day.
- Warm blue clay compress can quickly relieve muscle pain.
- Heated beer compress helps reduce discomfort.
- Chop raw onions to a pulp, mix with a spoonful of sugar and place in gauze. Such a compress should be applied to the sore spot for 1 hour. A day requires 3 sessions, after which you need to take a break for a day.
- Ash from grape shoots is mixed with olive oil in a ratio of 1:3. The resulting mixture must be lubricated on the affected area daily until a positive effect is obtained.
- In some cases, the use of ordinary baby soap is acceptable. A piece should be thickly lathered with a gauze bandage and put on the sore spot overnight.
In addition, it is recommended to use herbal collection based on willow bark, elder flowers and parsley root inside. Such a drink is able to relieve the inflammatory process and prevents the development of infection in damaged tissues.
To maintain the immune system, it is recommended daily instead of teause a decoction of rose hips, as such a drink contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals that favorably affect the general condition of a person.
Forecast
After the course of treatment is completed, it is necessary to limit the movements of the injured limb, as there is a risk of re-stretching the muscles during sudden movement. It is important to complete the rehabilitation course, which will be appointed by a specialist, in order to restore the limbs to their former mobility. In this case, damaged muscles will quickly come into shape.
In case of non-compliance with all medical prescriptions, a transition from the acute form of the course of the disease to the chronic one, which is characterized by periodic pain, is possible. In addition, it is possible to miss a more severe injury than a simple sprain, and therefore incorrectly treat it.
Preventive measures
The symptoms and treatment of a hand strain have been described above, but there are also preventive measures that are designed to prevent injury:
- Sports activities should only take place in the equipment intended for this.
- For girls who wear high heels, it is important to walk as carefully as possible to avoid falling. This is due to the fact that when a person falls, he instinctively puts his hands forward, which is fraught with muscle strains and even fractures of the hands.
- It is important to monitor weight, as excessive body weight negatively affects the quality of the ligamentous apparatus and makes it the most susceptible to various injuries.
- Beforestretching should not be ignored during exercise, as it warms up the muscles and ligaments, making them more elastic.
It is also recommended that the menu be varied and contain a large amount of vitamin D and calcium. In some cases, it is permissible to use drugs that are aimed at strengthening the ligamentous apparatus. These are drugs that contain collagen, chondroitin and glucosamine.
