Those who are involved in sports or other strenuous physical activities are sometimes prone to injuries to their skeletal muscle, specifically muscle or tendon damage. The pain, swelling, and other symptoms that follow can be debilitating to an active lifestyle – something the elite among us simply can’t afford to let happen.
Fortunately, there have been advances made in modern medicine to treat these musculotendinous injuries, and that’s through soft tissue injections. However, they are all designed to speed up the healing process of injuries and deliver that much-needed relief!
What Is a Muscle Injury?
Muscle injury is what happens when you pull, strain, or tear a muscle in your body. Muscles pulls or strains may be the product of overusing or overstretching the muscle fiber, while a tear is when you rupture the tissue by causing the greatest amount of strain on the muscle.
As you can imagine, the resulting pain from a tear can be unbelievable. After this injury has been inflicted, the muscle starts to heal itself through degradation, inflammation, regeneration, and finally fibrosis. This can last anywhere from a few days to an extended period depending on the extent of the damage.
What Medication Is Used to Treat Muscle Injuries?
Perhaps the most common method for how muscle injuries are treated is through cortisone shots. Many of us have had one of these types of injections at some point in our lives. It works to relieve pain and inflammation in a particular area of the body, most commonly in joints.
The shot itself contains corticosteroid medication (an anti-inflammatory drug) along with a local anesthetic. Many people, including athletes, usually have one if they are suffering from arthritis or tendinitis and have helped to hasten the recovery.
Another beneficial shot with proven results is Sarapin, an injectable analgesic used to manage chronic muscular or neuropathic pain. In the end, the right medication to use typically comes down to the extent of the damage and the symptoms the patient is experiencing.
All of these options are all constructed to treat the pain, inflammation, muscle spasms, and other effects caused by muscle pulls, strains, and tears. Studies have shown that too many of these types of shots can cause the cartilage within the treated joint to deteriorate, so doctors will usually limit the number of times you can have on an injection site.
Conclusion
As we mentioned at the top, in a competitive world, athletes can’t allow themselves to be incapacitated. Be that as it may, the solution isn’t to work through an injury. As a result, they are constantly searching for better and faster ways to fully heal from their inflictions.
At the same time, there are certain substances that are banned in professional sports, so a combination of safe medication and rehabilitation will be necessary. By focusing on the right treatment plan, athletes will be able to enjoy a speedy recovery and even reduce the risk of future injury.
Now that we have discussed some of the ways muscle injuries are treated, do you have any questions or observations regarding this process? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!