Muscle Pain Essentials

Recover faster from a muscle related injury such as a muscle pull, a muscle tear or muscle pain. Pulled Muscle helps you understand essential muscle injury and recovery information.

Here is a brief series of essential articles to read on pulled muscles and strains.

• What is a muscle pull?
  A muscle pull is an injury to a muscle or tendon in which the muscle fibers tear as a result of overstretching.
  
• Muscle pull symptoms
  When you pull a muscle, blood vessels within the muscle tissue are torn, which damages the circulation to and from the area. Without a proper pathway, fluids "spill" into the muscle tissue, causing swelling and on occasion bruising.
  
• Diagnosing severity of pull
  Muscle pulls are generally classified as grade 1, grade 2, grade 3 or chronic based on the described signs.
  
• Treating muscle pulls
  Specific treatment for a pulled muscle depends on the location and severity of the injury. It's important to be familiar with common recovery options like rest, icing, ultrasound and topical applications.
  
• How do muscles heal?
  When you tear a muscle fiber, the body immediately attempts to go into recovery mode, sending in materials to clean up the mess and reconstitute damaged muscle.
  
• Muscle pull prevention
  Strength complemented by flexibility is a key principle of preventing muscle pulls.