sprains and/or strains

Muscles are often the celebrities of the body. They are given the most attention in workouts (tickets to the gun show anyone?). They are important because they move bones and joints (and give you the ab definition that is attention-getting). Injury to a muscle is called a strain, which is graded based on how much of the muscle you have torn. Often, bruising will occur with a strain because when you tear the muscle, blood is released. You may also have a muscle spasm if a muscle is irritated or trying to tighten to protect other injured tissues.
• Tendons attach the muscles to your bones. The most common injury to a tendon is called tendonitis (like tennis elbow), which happens from too much irritation and inflammation. Usually tendonitis occurs because the muscle pulling on the tendon is working too hard or in an unusual pattern.
• Ligaments are like super strong rubber bands that attach bone to bone and restrict the movements from being too big. Ligament damage is called a sprain. The best known sprain region is the ankle. When you “roll your ankle”, you are mostly tearing the ligaments. This can cause instability because the tightness is gone and the bones can slip around more.

To properly heal a sprain and/or strain, I use massage to directly affect the tissue, adjusting to correct movement of the joint near the strain/sprain, and exercises to strengthen the injured tissue.