muscle STrain

What is a strain?

A strain is an injury to your muscle fibres or tendons (not to be confused with a sprain which is injury to the tissue between your bones). There are 3 grades of muscle strain ranging from a minor over-stretching to severely tearing the muscle. The severity of a strain can be assessed by how much strength and range of motion a person loses, and this can also provide an idea as to how long it will take to recover.

Grade 1 - Mild damage to individual muscle fibres that can cause minimal loss of strength and motion. Usually this is from over-stretching.

Grade 2 - More extensive damage to the muscle fibres. There would be a little tearing of some fibres with a significant loss of strength and motion.

Grade 3 - Complete rupture of the muscle or tendon. This strain will have a severe impact to strength and mobility and may even require surgery to reattach the damaged muscle and tendon. 

Image from Physio-Pedia. Please note that BelMar Canine Massagr Therapy is not affiliated with Physio-Pedia.

what causes muscle strains?

Acute strains, which are strains that happen suddenly, can be caused by one event, such as using poor body mechanics to do something strenuous or instantaneous, such as during an agility run.

Chronic strains, which arte strains that happen over time, can result from repetitive injuries when you stress a muscle by doing the same motion over and over. This may be due to things such as slippy floors, whereby the dog is repeatedly slipping throughout the day, and over time this builds up on the muscle and will cause an injury to occur.

There are also a few factors that may predispose a dog to this type of muscular injury. They include old age, a previous muscle injury, decreased flexibility in the muscle, lack of strength in the muscle, and general fatigue of the muscle.

what are the symptoms of strains?

  • Pain in the muscle - this will increase for the dog when the injured muscle is being contracted.

  • Localised swelling in the area of the injury

  • Bruising

  • Reduction in the strength of the effected muscle

  • Reduction of movement in the effected muscle

The picture you can see here is a picture of a Gracilis strain in a greyhound. The Gracilis is responsible for keeping the hip positioned correctly, flexion of the knee and helping with rotation of the knee. It is used very often throughout the day and is a muscle that can be prone to strains. You can easily see the swelling and the bruising in the area and this dog will be in disomfort as a result of the strain. 

Image from Canine Massage Guild.

stages of recovery:

There are 3 stages of recovery that a muscle will go through in order to repair the injury and the damage caused. They are broken down in to blocks dependong on the amount of time that has passed since the initial injury. There are different treatments that are used to treat each stage:

  • Initial 24 hours - acute stage - In this stage of recovery you would apply a cold compress or ice to the effected area, reducing haemorrhaging, which will reduce the swelling before you would then treat the area with massage therapy.

  • From 24-72 hours - sub-acute stage - by this time the injury has usually stabilised. At this stage of healing you would alternate hot and cold treatments on the affected area, keeping each on for a few minutes at a time. In this phase the body will be busy growing more tissue and repairing what was originally damaged. The fibres being created and repaired are easily damaged during this stage so the ability to injure them again is high.

  • over 72 hours - chronic stage - The scar tissue that developed in the area of the injury has now been modified by the body. By this point of the recovery the body will likely not feel anymore pain in the affected area except when there is overuse or the joint is pushed to its full range of motion, so reduced exercise and lead walks etc are suitable for recovery at this time. Using heat in this stage, which loosens up the muscle, will increase the circulation and help with the healing.

how can massage help?

  • Helps to loosen up the muscles to increase circulation

  • Increases circulation which brings new nutrients to the muscle and increases the rate of healing

  • Helps to break down scar tissue to increase flexibility in the muscle and reduce the risk of reinjury

  • Aids with the removal of waste products from the muscle to help with muscle health

  • Can help reduce discomfort and pain in the affected muscle and surrounding area

  • By reducing pain in the associated muscles the massage will also help to reduce overcompensation on another part of the body

  • Helps to increase flexibilit and range of movement in the effected muscle

Contraindications (reasons to not massage or to alter the massage) to be aware of - if your dog is showing any signs of the following then please let me know and then we can discuss a treatment schedule to work around or outside of the particular issue.

General contraindications:

  • Open wounds

  • High blood pressure

  • Diabetes

  • Cardio-vascular conditions

  • Broken bones

  • Bruises

  • Pregnancy

  • Epilepsy

  • The severity of the condition

  • The level of inflammation in the area (heat therapy should be avoided if inflammation present)

  • Skin irritations such as eczema