Types of Soft Tissue Injuries
As an athletic trainer and physical therapist, as well as a former national team swimmer, Mauricio Elizondo understands injured athletes. At 18 years old, he suffered a shoulder injury and had his appendix removed (yes, both happened at the same time!) that forced him to withdraw from his swimming national championship... more
Ligament sprains, muscle strains, contusions, tendinopathy, and bursitis are common types of soft tissue injuries. Depending on the severity of the injury, it can sometimes take a long time to recover.
-There are two basic categories that injuries fall into: Acute & Overuse.
Acute injuries are caused by a sudden trauma, such as a fall, twist, or blow to the body. Examples include sprains, strains, and contusions. Overuse injuries occur gradually over time when an activity is repeated often, that areas of the body go through increased stress without enough time to heal between occurrences. Tendinitis, tendinopathy, and bursitis are common soft-tissue overuse injuries.
Depending on your body and severity, an Acute injury is often treated with the RICE Protocol. RICE stand for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Rest consists of taking a break from the activity that caused the injury. Ice means using cold packs for 20 minutes at a time, several times a day. Compression means to prevent additional swelling and blood loss, you can wear an elastic compression bandage. Elevation means to reduce swelling by elevating the injury higher than your heart while resting.
A sprain is a stretch and/or tear of a ligament, a strong band of connective tissue that connects the end of one bone with another. Ligaments stabilize and support the body's joints. Sprains are classified by severity.
Grade 1 sprain (mild): Slight stretching and some damage to the fibers of the ligament.
Grade 2 sprain (moderate): Partial tearing of the ligament. There is abnormal looseness (laxity) in the joint when it is moved in certain ways.
Grade 3 sprain (severe): Complete tear of the ligament. This may cause significant instability.
Pain, bruising, swelling, and inflammation are common to all three types of sprains. Physical Therapy can help even in acute injuries, contrary to popular opinion, as education about the injury and proper steps to take during the initial onset are key for the future of the rehabilitation.
A strain is an injury to a muscle. Tendons are fibrous cords of tissue that attach muscles to bone. Similar to a sprain, a strain may be a simple stretch of your muscle, or it may involve a partial or complete tear of the muscle. Symptoms of a strain may include pain, muscle spasm, muscle weakness, swelling, inflammation, and cramping. The initial recommended treatment for a strain is often the same as for a sprain: However, an evaluation by a Physical Therapist with a diagnostic ultrasound is recommended to fully see the extend of the injury and recommend the proper plan of care.
Finally, Contusions, also known as “Bruises”, occur when a direct blow by a blunt object hits or repeatedly hits, a part of the body, breaking muscle fibers and tissue, but with out breaking the skin. Most Contusions are mild and respond well to “RICE”, however, medical treatment should be sought to prevent permanent damage to any soft tissue.
Tendonipathy (new term from tendinitis) is an injury to the tendon, that often occurs after repetitive trauma caused by an activity and it is an overuse injury. Tendon treatment can be very tricky. Therefore, Physical Therapy is recommended to determine why the tendon is having extra stress to it during an activity, and have treatment strategies in place to avoid further injury.
Bursitis, if an inflammation of something called the bursa sac, which is a pocket of water in between a tendon and a bone that reduces friction. These can be irritated when a new activity is introduced and it was done in excess. Think of going to the gym for the first time and pushing it too hard, the bursa sac can get inflammed because of the new stress.
If you or anyone you know suffers from any soft tissue injury, please contact our office at 727-826-7142 to schedule a free consult with one of our highly educated PT’s and be on your way to recovery.
