Pulled Muscles, Scar Tissue and Re-Injury

How does scar tissue affect recovery and re-injury of pulled muscles and sports injury?

Have you ever had an injury that just won’t heal? And then when you think it has healed, you go and re-injure it again. You may have a problem with scar tissue.

So you’ve pulled a muscle? Over-stretched it, torn it, strained it, sprained it. Call it what you want. From an injury point of view, the initial healing process is all the same.

Sprains (ligament) and strains (muscle or tendon) are the most common type of soft tissue sports injury and are often caused by activities that require the muscles to stretch and contract at the same time. A lack of conditioning, flexibility and warm up can also contribute.

While most people are well aware of the importance of applying the R.I.C.E. regime to a sprain or strain in the first 48 to 72 hours, it’s after this that most people get stuck. Let’s start by having a look at what happens during those first 72 hours and then move onto what’s needed for a full recovery.

The First 72 Hours, without a doubt, the most effective, initial treatment for soft tissue injury is the R.I.C.E.R. regime. This involves the application of (R) rest, (I) ice, (C) compression, (E) elevation and obtaining a (R) referral for appropriate medical treatment.

Where the R.I.C.E.R. regime has been used immediately after the occurrence of an injury, it has been shown to significantly reduce recovery time. R.I.C.E.R. forms the first, and perhaps most important stage of injury rehabilitation, providing the early base for the complete recovery of injury.

The diagram below is a comparison of the same injury treated with the R.I.C.E.R. regime and without. The top row of pictures show the effects of a soft tissue injury when the R.I.C.E.R. regime is not used. While the bottom row of pictures show the effects of a soft tissue injury when the R.I.C.E.R. regime is used.

The first diagram in the series shows a rupture in the soft tissue immediately following an injury. 24 hours later, when R.I.C.E.R. has not been used, there is a large amount of uncontrolled bleeding and swelling. However, in the bottom diagram, the application of rest, ice, compression and elevation has significantly reduced the amount of bleeding and swelling.