MUSCLE STRAIN

Finola,

I was out this afternoon for a walk, recently I have added in a jog at times during my walk. I think I am just after straining a muscle on the back of my leg. What should I do today or over the next few days? I feel like it is too sore to do any physio on it for the moment.

For any muscle strain, we would recommend following the acronym POLICE as we now know complete rest usually will not benefit you in the long term.

P- PROTECT – this depends on the severity of the injury. You may need to take a break from running for a while. Usually, it just means walking around on it a bit less than normal. In other cases with a severe tear, you may need crutches for a few days to help the muscle tear to heal.

O –L - OPTIMAL LOADING – this means as pain allows we want to start using the muscle again. In some ways, this contradicts the first protection phase. However, as soon as pain allows we want to start using this muscle again and gradually get our strength back in the muscle.

I – ICE – this will help with some pain relief in the first few days of injury. There is little evidence around the amount of time we should ice an injury. Be careful not to burn the skin and don’t leave the ice on for longer than 10 minute.

C – Compression – this can be done using a compression bandage you can readily get in here in the clinic or in any pharmacy. This is an elastic bandage that serves to give the muscle some extra support at the initial stage of injury and may prevent further swelling

E – Elevation – if you elevate your leg above the level of your pelvis this will prevent swelling at the site of injury.

This is only for the first few days of injury, after 2-3 days you can begin rehabilitation and start strengthening up your muscle again so you can eventually return to your walk/jog.

- Finola.