How to Treat a Muscle Tear

According to the Mayo Clinic, a muscle strain is a stretching or tearing of muscle or tendon, a fibrous cord of tissue that connects muscles to bones. Symptoms of a muscle tear include pain at the site of the injury, swelling, muscle spasms and a limited ability to move the muscle. Normally you can treat a mild muscle strain or tear at home, but you should seek a physician's care if you are experiencing severe pain, red streaks at the site of the injury, numbness or an inability to move the muscle at all. This could signify a break.

Things You'll Need

• Ice
• Heating pad
• pain medications
• wraps

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Instructions

• 1

  Rest the area of injury. Stay off of the muscle tear or strain if it is one of your legs that is involved. Use a crutch to help take the pressure off walking when you have torn the muscle. The more you are on the muscle, the greater the risk for tearing it further.

• 2

  Ice the injury for at least 20 minutes at a time. Use the ice every few hours to alleviate swelling. The ice can protect against muscle spasms and will slow down bruising. The ice can also help numb the tear, which will ease the pain of the injury.

• 3

  Wrap the injury with an elastic bandage. The bandage will help support the injury and will cut back on the swelling. Do not wrap the injury too tightly as this can cut off the circulation. Take the wrap off every few hours and re-wrap it to encourage blood flow at the injury site.

• 4

  Elevate your injury above your heart. Keeping the injury elevated will prevent swelling and pooling of blood at the injury site. It will also keep fluids from building. Try to keep the injury elevated as much throughout the day as possible.

• 5

  Take anti-inflammatory medications to help with the pain and to ease swelling. Take 200 to 400 mg of Ibuprofen every four to six hours or as suggested by your physician. You can take one to two acetaminophen tablets for the pain but it will not deal with the inflammation.

• 6

  Use a heating pad once you have begun to heal. The heating pad will increase blood flow to the site and will ease pain on the muscle tear. Using a heating pad too quickly will encourage swelling. This will generally be after a few weeks after the injury. Do not leave the heating pad on for more than 20 minutes at a time. If you leave the heat on for too long it can encourage muscle spasms.