Our muscles, which for the most part are used to move our bones, can in fact, like all parts of the body, suffer from more or less serious ailments. Why Doctor takes stock, from the less serious the cramp to the more serious, the rupture.
The return of the sun and the spring climate gives back the taste for physical exercise and the fullness it brings. But beware of brutal acceleration!
Cramp
There are several types of muscle injuries. At the bottom of the scale of severity, not that of pain because it can be terribly painful, there is the cramp. It is the response of a muscle that is not sufficiently trained in the face of too violent a solicitation. To contract, the muscle needs energy, and cannot work without leaving waste … These wastes, when they accumulate in the muscle, cause cramps.
When it comes to cramps at night, it is usually general fatigue or poor leg position in bed. This leaves the calf sore and there is nothing else you can do but wait for it to pass. If this occurs after exercise, rest, aspirin and good hydration are usually enough to eliminate the pain.
VSontracture.
This is the stadium above. The muscle cannot regain its relaxed state at rest. The muscle is tender when palpated, and in places a little hard. Same treatment as for the cramp: rest and anti-inflammatory drugs.
Then if the pain appears during a sudden movement, especially at the beginning of an effort, on a poorly heated muscle, we will then speak of elongation which is aptly named, because we are pulling too much on the muscle.
Breakdown.
In the event of elongation, the muscle has been strained too violently, but it is intact. This is not the case with breakdown. Athletes describe a real stab, often accompanied by a snap. Hence its name. The muscle being damaged, it bleeds and very quickly appears a hematoma, an internal hemorrhage.
The treatment consists of putting the muscle at rest: a few days for the contracture, 1 to 2 weeks for the elongation, 6 to 8 weeks for a strain … Modern ultrasound techniques, and other local treatments save a little of time.
Breakage and tear
At the most important stage of the breakdown there is tearing or even complete muscle ruptures, which are serious, but quite rare. It is the domain of the surgeon.
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