Torn hamstring versus strained muscle- what's the difference?

introduction

Muscle injuries occur most often sports With rapid changes in movement and speed on. Muscle strains and torn muscle fibers are common injuries in people who are active in sports.
The main difference between the two injuries lies in the timing of the symptoms and the duration of recovery.

Differentiating the various forms of muscle injuries

What exactly is the difference between a pulled muscle, a ruptured muscle fiber, a ruptured muscle bundle and a ruptured muscle?
All of them are typical and common sports injuries.

In order to understand the distinction between the individual injuries, one must first deal with the basic structure of a muscle.
Every muscle consists of a multitude of tiny functional units, the so-called sarcomeres. Each sarcomere can contract and relax again.

Since the force that a single sarcomere can build up is not that great, however, several sarcomeres usually contract together. Many sarcomeres together form a muscle fibril. Several muscle fibrils come together to form one muscle fiber and many muscle fibers become muscle fiber bundles. Ultimately, every muscle is made up of many individual such muscle fiber bundles.

The structure of each muscle is therefore organized according to strict rules. The difference between the various injuries lies in the extent of the damage, which can be easily understood with background knowledge of the structure of a muscle. If one or more sarcomeres are overstrained or overstretched and are thus damaged, this results in muscle strain. The actual muscle structure is still intact and no structures are torn, nevertheless the muscle is injured and painful.

In the event of greater overload, several adjacent fibrils, i.e. a muscle fiber tear, can tear.
If the damage is even more severe, all the fibers of a muscle fiber bundle may tear; one speaks in abbreviated form of a muscle bundle tear.
In the worst case, all muscle fiber bundles of a muscle are overloaded and injured at the same time. If all the muscle fiber bundles tear, the result is a complete muscle tear. All of the fibrils and fibers and bundles and are then damaged.
From a medical point of view, the distinction between a muscle strain and the different tears is unavoidable if a muscle injury is to be correctly classified and diagnosed. The correct naming of the injury already allows a rough overview of the severity of the same.

Read more on this topic at: Hamstring vs. Muscle Pulled - What's the Difference?

Appointment with a sports orthopedic specialist?

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Who am I?
My name is dr. Nicolas Gumpert. I am a specialist in orthopedics and the founder of .
Various television programs and print media report regularly about my work. On HR television you can see me every 6 weeks live on "Hallo Hessen".
As a passionate athlete, I have specialized in the treatment of sports diseases for professionals and hobby athletes.
The focus is therefore on diseases of the muscles, tendons and joints.

In order to be able to treat successfully in orthopedics, a thorough examination, diagnosis and a medical history are required.
In our very economic world in particular, there is too little time to thoroughly grasp the complex diseases of orthopedics and thus initiate targeted treatment.
I don't want to join the ranks of "quick knife pullers".

The aim of any treatment is treatment without surgery.

Which therapy achieves the best results in the long term can only be determined after looking at all of the information (Examination, X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, etc.) be assessed.

You can find me in:

• Lumedis - your orthopedic surgeon
  Kaiserstrasse 14
  60311 Frankfurt am Main

Directly to the online appointment arrangement
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Further information about myself can be found at Dr. Nicolas Gumpert

How can you tell whether you have a muscle strain or a ruptured muscle fiber?

Muscle strains and smaller tears in muscles usually cause very similar symptoms in the person affected, so that it can be difficult to distinguish between them. Nevertheless, there are hints and signs that can also serve as a rule of thumb for non-medical professionals.
Since a muscle strain damages the smallest units, but the basic structure of the muscle is retained, the perceived complaints, especially the pain, often improve a little with gentle stretching.If stretching has a relieving effect on the symptoms, the affected person can usually assume a muscle strain.

Stress and tension on the injured muscle, on the other hand, hurt both with pulled muscles and with all muscle tears.
While a ruptured muscle fiber or even a complete rupture of the muscle causes severe pain very suddenly in most cases, the pain of a strain may initially appear tolerable, only to worsen later. Pain that gets worse and worse speaks against a tear in the muscle tissue.

Visible bumps or dents on the affected muscle, on the other hand, almost always suggest an injury that goes beyond a pure strain. A complete functional failure - that is, the muscle cannot be tensed at all, not even with pain - is very suspicious and should be checked by a doctor.

Read more on the topic Muscle tear - what symptoms are there?

Last but not least, the recovery time also provides an indication of the type of previous injury. While the affected muscle can be loaded slowly and lightly again after a muscle strain in most cases after 2 - 3 days of rest and no more symptoms are noticed after about a week, a torn muscle requires significantly more time to heal or improve. If pain and swelling have not disappeared for a few days of rest and cooling of the relevant area, you can assume a muscle (fiber) tear (duration of a muscle fiber tear) and should consult a doctor to be on the safe side.

How is the diagnosis made?

The precise determination of what type of muscle injury is involved should be made by a doctor, even if there are clear signs. Even if the injured person already has a suspicion, an experienced doctor may take a closer look at some things. The diagnosis is made after a detailed anamnesis, i.e. after a detailed discussion with the patient and some examinations.

The course of the accident, i.e. also the mechanism of the injury, the type and severity of the pain, but also the patient's training workload and fitness level are important in the conversation. Special attention is also paid to past injuries to muscles, tendons and bones.

In addition to a close look at the injured part of the body (also compared to the healthy side!) And careful palpation, the physical examination also includes a rough check of the reflexes of the potentially damaged muscle. This is also followed by an objective examination of the remaining strength of the muscle by the doctor and an assessment of the stance and gait. Under certain circumstances, a specific relieving posture while running shows the exact location of the injury.

After completing the physical examination, the attending physician can also use sonography, i.e. the ultrasound examination, to confirm his suspicions. Especially with larger tears in the muscle tissue, these can be clearly seen in the ultrasound image.

If no clear diagnosis can be made even after all of these examinations have been completed, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may still be considered, with which muscle and soft tissue injuries can be shown very well. Basically, this method is reserved for more complex, ambiguous cases and professional athletes and is normally not required.

What's the difference in therapy?

The two fundamental differences in the therapy of muscle strains and muscle (fiber) tears result from the characteristics of the various injuries already mentioned.
Since the basic structure of the muscle is still intact with a pure muscle strain, a slight stretching of the affected muscle can be perceived as pleasant and pain-relieving.

Muscle tears are quite the opposite. Stretching usually does not relieve the pain, but rather intensifies it. The actual injury becomes even worse with every strain and every stretch. Muscle tears - regardless of the extent - should not be stretched any further under any circumstances.

Read more on the topic Therapy of torn muscles

Nevertheless, the cornerstone of the therapy should still be rest, elevation and cooling.
This form of therapy results in the second important difference in the therapy of strains and torn muscles. Since the injuries are associated with different degrees of damage, they simply require different lengths of time for complete healing.
While an improvement can be felt after a few days with a strain and no further therapy measures are required after about a week, therapy for larger muscle tears can take months.