Important Tips To Treating A Pulled Or Strained Muscle

A pulled or strain muscle is very painful especially if you've strained it in your inner thigh area. Well, my daughter did that and believe me it is no joke. My little girl hurt her leg by running and falling the wrong way on her leg. At first it didn't bother her, she was just complaining that it felt sore, but then a few days later she was in excruciating pain and couldn't walk.



Since her father was familiar with strained muscles we took care of her, carried her to the bathroom, gave her Tylenol pain reliever and tended to her needs. We figure she will be ok in a few days if we watched what we were doing and treated her. After two days she wasn't showing any progress, so we decided to take her to the hospital.


What is a strained muscle?

It is when the muscle has been stretched beyond it's limit. It can happen during excessive physical activity.



The doctors took xrays and diagnosed it as a pulled or strained muscle. So far she is very able to get around during the day. The doctors said to "keep ice on the muscle three times a day for 20 minutes while she is awake". They  then said to try to get her to walk to the bathroom so she can work the muscle and keep the circulation going and to keep her some pain reliever available for her discomfort.



It has been a week now and she is doing so much better. She is still limping around with support, but at night it bothers her more than it does during the day. It takes time for a muscle to heal, they can be tricky. One minute she is ok and the next she's hurting.


Here are some steps to treating a strained muscle if you happen to be going through a similar situation.

• Do not walk on or use the muscle the first few days of injury.
• Apply a ice pack 3 times a day for twenty minutes to the affected area
• Take a over the counter medicines for pain, fever and discomfort.
• If you want wrap it with a elastic bandage to hold and support muscle. Don't wrap it too tightly.
• Do not take aspirin it can cause bleeding or bruising to the affected sight.
• Keep elevated above heart level if you can.
• Get plenty of rest.

It can take 1-2 weeks for a muscle strain to heal. If there is no change go to the doctor for proper treatment.