Sports Medicine Center for Strain Injuries in Wentzville, Missouri

Strain injuries can happen to the young and old, whether you are an athlete or a weekend warrior. Strains involve the tearing, twisting, or rupture of muscles and/or the tendons that connect the muscles to the bones. Most of these injuries heal without surgery. However, expert evaluation at a sports medicine center provides the best path to complete recovery and prevention of other injuries. Here’s more on these common musculoskeletal injuries.

What Are the Symptoms of a Strain?

Symptoms of strain injuries may happen suddenly, or they may develop more gradually and intensify. These symptoms include:

• Pain
• Swelling
• Inability to move the affected body part
• Muscle weakness
• Spasms
• Bruising and redness

It’s important to be open and honest about your symptoms when you see your sports medicine doctor. Tell them how the injury occurred and what your level of pain is. Also, describe in detail what self-care interventions you used– whether that was ice or elevation.

What Causes Strains?

Overuse of the wrist, knee, back, or ankles causes strain injuries. When strained, tendons and muscles become stretched, sometimes to their breaking point, called a rupture. Sudden blows can lead to strains as well.

Sadly, many people do not think that warming up and stretching (and keeping in good physical shape) are important. So, they quickly begin an activity without proper preparation and injure themselves.

How Your Orthopedic Specialist Can Help

At Advanced Bone &Joint, we have two board-certified sports medicine specialists: Drs. Larkin and Melander. They offer a broad range of preventive care and treatment plans for chronic conditions and acute injuries related to athletic activity.

In the office, they assess patient symptoms, including the level of pain, stiffness, range of motion, movement, balance, and more. They may also use state-of-the-art digital imaging to aid in diagnosis and treatment planning and to grade strains as mild, moderate, or severe.

Healing and full rehabilitation of strained muscles and tendons are immediate goals with a continued emphasis on increasing athletic performance without additional or new injuries.

Many strain injuries heal well with rest. A physical therapy program, including stretching and strengthening exercises, application of heat and cold, splinting, or the use of crutches or casts for the ankles are common interventions. Only the most severe injuries require surgical repair.

Some of the most frequently occurring strain injuries our professional team sees at our sports center are:

• Lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow
• Medial epicondylitis, or golfer’s elbow
• Lumbar back muscle strains from football or weightlifting
• Patella tendonitis, or jumper’s knee, involving the tendon behind the kneecap.
• Patella-femoral strains in which the kneecap moves out of its position within its groove in the shin bone.

Your Sports Medicine Center for Strain Injuries in Wentzville, Missouri

At Advanced Bone &Joint, our sports medicine is second to none. Call us to arrange your personalized consultation at (636) 229-4222 or schedule your appointment online. Dr. Larkin and Dr. Melander evaluate and treat patients at all three of our locations: Wentzville, St. Peters, and O’Fallon. Let us help you get back in the game and enjoy it for years to come.