How to Treat Muscle Injury

Muscle injuries are often the result of intense physical activity such as playing sports or lifting weights. In many cases, the injuries are not extreme and can be treated at home. Muscle injuries are often referred to as pulled muscles, but they are technically torn muscles. Any type of pain in the muscle, no matter how severe, means you have torn the muscle.

Instructions

• 1

  Apply ice to the muscle to minimize swelling and help relieve pain. Leave the ice on the muscle for 10 to 15 minutes. Do this once every two hours. If the ice is too cold, place a towel between the ice and your skin.

• 2

  Allow the sore muscle to rest. Refrain from doing any heavy lifting or any type of physical activity. It is also important to keep the injured muscle elevated. For example, if you injured a leg muscle, you should keep your leg propped up when sitting down.

• 3

  Take anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen to help ease the pain and reduce inflammation. Begin taking this as soon as the muscle is injured and continue taking it until you are completely healed. One or two tablets every six hours is the normal dose.

• 4

  Wrap the injured muscle in an elastic bandage if you can. This will help limit movement and take stress off of the muscle. Do not wrap it so tight that it restricts blood circulation.

• 5

  Stretch the muscle gently. Stretching should never be painful, so do not overdo it. You should stretch at least 5 minutes every hour. This will help loosen the muscle, which in turn speeds up the healing process.