Muscular accidents are frequent in sports. Among them is elongation, which is an isolated muscle tear with only a few fibres. Explanations by Dr. Patrick Bacquaert, sports physician, vice-president and chief physician of the IRBMS Hauts de France*.
Muscle elongation is a lesion of the muscle following a physical effort. It occurs either because of muscular fatigue ora poorly executed sporting gesture.
“Muscularelongation is a lesion without rupture of the intima of the fibers, explains Dr. Patrick Bacquaert. You have to imagine a rubber band that you pull too hard but that does not break. »
Muscle elongation: what are its symptoms?
Muscular stretching causes limited, not brutal pain, which may even go unnoticed during the effort,” says the sports doctor, “but which will occur at the time of recovery, with functional impotence. »
How is muscle elongation diagnosed?
Aclinical examination by a sports doctor is usually sufficient. This is true in 80% of cases,” says Dr. Bacquaert. But in 20% of cases, an ultrasound scan is performed to confirm the diagnosis and allow for the most appropriate treatment. »
What treatment?
The immediate treatment is based on RICE. “In detail, this means R for rest. This varies from 10 to 15 days. I for ice in the form of anice cube in a bag or pocket of cold to be applied to the elongation, but never heat. C for compression with, for example, an anatomical strapping which is the domain of a paramedical or medical professional and not to be done by oneself, and E for elevation of the affected limb “, explains the doctor. One can also take a paracetamol-type analgesic (except for intolerance or allergy) to calm the pain.
Elongation: how to prevent it?
And if one wants to decrease the risk of suffering from muscular elongation, it is necessary to think of warming up well before any sporting practice and especially of hydrating well also, and during the effort to stop as soon as a muscular discomfort appears.
* www.irbms.com