Acute/Recent strains and injuries

Pain from a recent strain or injury or sometimes for no apparent reason, can be mild, moderate or severe depending on the nature of the condition. It is always a good idea to have it investigated by a medical practitioner if it’s severe due to injury or for no reason. Once the symptoms have calmed down it should be clearer as to what is going on.

The length of time acute pain lasts

This will depend on the severity of the strain or injury. In most cases the severity of the pain will be reduced in 72 hours (the inflammatory period). After this period the pain experienced in mild cases will have almost disappeared, even though the pain felt awful initially. In the acute stage it can be difficult to fully understand what is going on, so you may well be advised to follow the following rule: (P.R.I.C.E) Protect, Rest, Ice, Elevation of the affected limb until the symptoms have eased.

It should be pointed out that it is almost impossible for just one structure to be injured. If a muscle or ligament is torn its covering connective tissue and nerve supply will be affected in some way. Often the associated joints will also be affected. 

Rehabilitation and Treatment

Once the symptoms of pain have eased, it is a good idea to encourage the affected area to move with gentle movements. It is however possible that you could be more susceptible to the same complaint recurring. This is because the body will lay down scar tissue in response to strain or injury, sticking together adjacent layers of soft tissue.This leads to a gluing down of the the nerves, muscle and joints.  

When nerves which are designed to glide through soft tissues become bound- down, the following symptoms often occur:  pain on movement, muscle cramps, tightening of muscles or muscle spasm. When muscles tighten or go into spasm the joint surfaces close up and become stiffer. The result can be long-term pain, stiffness and an increased risk of re-injury.

Unresolved pain, strain and injury

Conditions which have not been eased by other forms of treatment, may be significantly improved with VJ Barnes Osteopathy. The aim here is to make a diagnosis based on a detailed medical history, including how the complaint first developed, its duration and what prior tests and scans have been carried out. After this a suitable treatment approach can be implemented.

To prevent your injury becoming a recurring problem you should have the injury investigated by a suitable osteopath.

The VJ Barnes Clinic has many years experience of successfully
treating these conditions with osteopathy.