Full Answer
What is the best treatment for muscle strain?
Nov 11, 2020 · PHASE 2: RESTORE FULL RANGE OF MOTION As above. Joint mobilisations at the shoulder. Muscle releasing strategies to maintain good posture and help aid appropriate movement patterns. Pec major stretches – should not stretch to the point of pain (only to comfortable stretch feeling). Begin ...
How long does it take for a pulled back muscle to heal?
Oct 12, 2016 · This method works by flushing blood through the injury while forcing the tissue to reorganize in its normal pattern of contractile architecture. After 10 days of 25s [reps], go up in weight and down in reps to 15s, then to 10s, and finally to 5s. During this time do NO OTHER HEAVY WORK, so that your resources can focus on the injury.
Did I tear my PEC muscle?
Pectoralis Minor: Self-massage You can massage the pectoralis with the Trigger Fairy, a massage ball or with your fingers. Massaging it with the Trigger Fairy or a ball saves your hands from unnecessary strain. With the Fairy you can work the muscle while sitting and make use of its small head to really get on to the tiny knots in the muscle.
What are the most common causes of pectoral muscle pain?
Sep 17, 2016 · Type 1 tears where the tendon ripped off the bone are the most straightforward to repair. The surgery is open, and the incision is placed in your axilla. During the surgery, we will use a suture anchor device to place sutures into the bone and then we will use those sutures to repair the tendon back to the bone.
How to do a PEC major tear?
The primary mechanism of Pec Major tears is the classic bench press. This exercise begins with the bar pushed straight up above the body. The bar is then slowly lowered towards the chest before being pushed back up to the starting position.
What is a grade 2 PEC strain?
Significant tissue damage leading to a moderate loss in movement is a Grade 2 pec major strain. Grade 3 muscle strains will be the muscle fibres have been torn resulting in a complete rupture and major loss in function. Majority of pec major muscle strains are Grade 2, meaning that there is significant damage to the muscle ...
What muscle is responsible for bringing the arm back down?
The lower part of the pec major can assist with bringing the raised arm back down and across the body (extension and adduction). Pectoralis Major is an anterior stabilising muscle of the shoulder.
How long does it take for a muscle to return to normal after a strain?
Provide adequate self-management strategies and pre-exercise routine. Note: Grade 1 muscle injuries can expect a full return to function within a week, once symptoms have subsided. With grade 2 strains the return to full activity can be significantly slower, depending on the severity, return can range from 2 – 6 weeks.
Why does the chest muscle slip?
If this eccentric contraction (where the muscle lengthens in a controlled fashion) is uncoordinated, either because of muscle fatigue or weakness, the weight is allowed to slip to one side resulting in a sudden contraction ...
How to heal a muscle tear?
muscle tear – Relative rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation (helps reduce the inflammation to the injured tissue allowing for a quicker recovery time). Effleurage massage can help reduce swelling to the area. Pain free mobility exercises retain as much range of motion as possible.
What is the goal of a shoulder sling?
Aim: Control pain, protect the surgical site and avoid any post-op complications. The shoulder is protected in an arm sling. Range of motion exercises for surrounding joints (Elbow, wrist, hand, neck). Gentle pendulum exercises for shoulder.
What exercises are used to strengthen a PEC strain?
Strengthening exercises are performed during the pec strain recovery time once you have full range of motion without pain. Dumbbells, elastic bands, wrist-cuff weights and exercise machines are all utilized in therapy for strengthening.
How to stretch your PECs?
Lift your arms to shoulder height and place both forearms flat on the wall. Slowly lean in until you feel a stretch across your chest. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds and repeat three times. Lower and raise your arms slightly and repeat to stretch other parts of your pecs.
How to treat pectoral muscle pain?
Pectoral Muscle Pain Treatment. Physical therapy treatments are used to decrease pain after injury to your pectoral muscle. Moist heat is often used to increase blood flow to the injured area and help your muscles relax. Electrical stimulation — delivered through pads placed on your pectoral muscle — uses electrical current to decrease pain ...
What exercises can be performed during a pectoral restraining session?
Pushups, chest presses, dumbbell flys and bench presses are examples of pectoral-strengthening exercises that may be performed during your therapy session. To help prevent reinjury, begin with light weights, such as 5-pound dumbbells, when resuming bench presses.
Why does my pectoral muscle tighten up?
After injury, your pectoral muscle may tighten up — a condition called muscle guarding — as the body attempts to protect the area from further injury. Perform stretches to gently lengthen the muscle to reduce this tightness.
What are the three types of range of motion exercises?
Three types of range of motion exercises are common in therapy: passive, active assisted and active. Passive range of motion exercises are performed as the therapist moves your arm while you have it in a relaxed position.
What is Bailey's job?
Bailey is also an Anatomy and Physiology professor and has been writing health and fitness articles for over 10 years. Physical therapy interventions help restore range of motion and function as part of pectoral strain treatment. Muscle strains — also known as pulled muscles — cause tiny tears in your muscle fibers.
How to rehab a PEC tear?
Various treatments may be used by your physical therapist during your pec major tear rehab. These may include physical modalities, exercise, or manual techniques. All treatments are designed to help you move better, decrease pain, and improve overall functional use of your arm.
How long does it take to recover from a pectoralis tear?
Surgery involves sewing your pec tear back into place on your upper arm. Three to four weeks after surgery you should be able to do some passive or active assisted range of motion (ROM) exercises, depending on the surgery. It will most likely take around six weeks for you to do active motion without help.
How many grades of muscle tear are there?
There are three grades of muscle and tendon tears. Your pectoralis tear will likely be graded by your physician. The grades are numbered by severity. A grade I tear is simply an overstretching of the pec tendon. A grade II tear is a partial tendon tear; some of the tendon is torn and some is still intact.
What happens when you lift heavy weights?
When you are lifting heavy weights and the pec tendon becomes overloaded, it may tear . Other forceful encounters, such as a fall onto an outstretched arm or a sudden and violent pull on your arm may also tear your pectoralis major tendon.
How to improve muscular endurance?
Exercises to improve muscular endurance may be done during your pec tear rehab. Your physical therapist may have you use an upper body ergometer (UBE) to improve upper extremity muscular endurance. (A UBE is a bicycle that you pedal with your arms.) A rowing machine may also be used.
How do you know if you have a ruptured pectoralis muscle?
These may include: An audible pop in your chest or shoulder during the traumatic event that caused your injury. Pain in the front of your shoulder. Difficulty lifting your shoulder and arm. Difficulty pushing things, like a door.
What muscle is the front of your chest?
Your pectoralis major is the large muscle in the front of your chest. It courses from your sternum (breastbone) and your collar bone to attach at the front of your upper arm bone. This large, fan-shaped muscle works to horizontally adduct your arm, which means that it pulls your upper arm across the front of your body. When you are pushing something, your pectoralis major is active to stabilize the front of your shoulder. The muscle also helps with respiration during heavy breathing.
The Starr Rehab Protocol
Fortunately, we Starting Strength coaches know an extraordinary method that will rehab torn muscle bellies in a very short time. We call it the “Starr Rehab Protocol,” named after the greatest strength coach who ever lived, the late Bill Starr.
Why and How the Starr Rehab Protocol Works
When a muscle belly is torn (the term “muscle strain” is actually a small muscle tear), the fibers of the muscle tissue literally are torn in half and frayed. The body immediately begins an inflammatory response and sends blood flow to the area to begin the healing process.
Important Notes on the Starr Rehab Protocol
So what sort of injury does the Starr Rehab Protocol work best on? Very simply, we’ve seen that it works best for muscle belly injuries — things like strains and torn muscle bellies themselves. It has been our experience that it also works quite well with back injuries associated with disc problems (herniation, facet joint issues, sciatica, etc.).
My Own Experience
I have successfully used the Starr Protocol to rehab a badly torn right pec (3 years ago), a torn lat, a torn bicep muscle belly, a torn adductor (left groin), and my current rehab on my left pec.
Watch the Video
Matt Reynolds is a competitive powerlifter and strongman. He’s a Starting Strength coach as well. Matt offers online coaching at his site: ReynoldsStrong. com. (Note: Brett is currently a client of Matt’s and is seeing some nice gains to his lifts with his coaching and programming!)
How to treat a pectoralis major tear?
In isolated pectoralis minor tendon tears, however, a conservative treatment approach is typically recommended. Recommend rest, ice, and anti-inflammatory medication for the first two to four weeks following the injury. The athlete may use an arm sling to increase comfort, but complete immobilization isn’t necessary. After the initial rest period, begin gentle non-resisted exercises to preserve shoulder integrity but avoid offending movements. Consider activities such as the pendulum, assisted shoulder ladder, and assisted pulley exercises within the zone of comfort.
What causes a pectoral minor tear?
These include contusions from trauma, costochondritis, pectoralis muscle strains, and tendon rupture. However, while rare in athletes, another possible cause is an isolated pectoral minor (PMi) tear. The literature documents a limited number of such injuries, most of which tend to occur in sports as a result of direct trauma.
What is the MRI of the pectoralis minor muscle?
MRI imaging typically shows edema at the tendon insertion site of the pectoralis minor muscle onto the coracoid process. The pectoralis major muscle usually remains intact. Conservative treatment approaches usually suffice and most athletes return to sport with no long-term detriment to performance.
What is the best imaging for a PMI injury?
Due to its deep location and the fact that a PMi injury frequently occurs in conjunction with a pectoralis major injury, MRI imaging is beneficial for confirming (or refuting) a suspected PMi injury diagnosis. Computerized tomography imaging ( CT scanning) may also be helpful in making the diagnosis. Different imaging modes help establish an accurate picture of the extent and nature of the injury. These include sagittal T2 fat-saturated imaging (MRI), coronal proton-density fat saturation sequence imaging (MRI), and axial CT imaging of the coracoid (see figures 2a and 2b).
What is the function of the pectoralis minor?
In terms of its biomechanical function, the PMi muscle helps protract, depress, and stabilize the scapula. Therefore, it is principally used in shoulder movements of flexion, adduction, and internal rotation.
Where is the PMI located?
The PMi is a fan-shaped muscle of the shoulder girdle, originating from the external surfaces of the anterior portion of the third to fifth ribs and inserting onto the coracoid process of the scapula ( see figure 1 ). The pectoralis minor lies beneath the pectoralis major. The pectoralis muscles together form the anterior wall of the axilla.
What sports have a PMI tear?
Such sports include American football and ice hockey (1,2,3). In an example of a non-traumatic injury, Columbia University reported the occurrence of a PMi tear in a healthy 24-year old woman as a result of performing a side-plank exercise at the gym.
How to massage pectoralis minor?
6.1 Self-massage of the pectoralis minor with the Trigger Fairy 1 For the precise massage strokes place the Fairy on the muscle. 2 Press in the tissue and search for tender spots. 3 Massage each spot with slow strokes. 4 Each stroke should only range from right before to right after the point. 5 While massaging, make sure to only move the skin and not to slide over it.
What happens when your pectoralis minor is triggered?
When your pectoralis minor contains trigger points, it can give you pain right at the location of these spots and send it to other, seemingly unrelated areas of your body.
What is the pectoralis minor?
Pectoralis Minor: Pain & Trigger Points. A pectoralis minor that harbors trigger points may be, among others, responsible for pain at the front of your shoulder and your chest. Although it is the “little brother” of the pectoralis major, it has a different function as you will learn soon. 1.
What muscle causes pain in the palm of the hand?
Furthermore, it is possible that this muscle triggers pain in your palm – not shown in the picture – and in your 3rd to 5th finger. The pectoralis can cause the following pains. Forearm muscle pain. Upper arm pain. Golfers elbow pain.
How to massage a fairy?
For the pressure-motion technique place the Fairy again on the muscle. Search for tender points and massage them by moving your shoulder. Elevating your arm (picture) or pulling your shoulder backwards works great for this technique.
Which muscle is prone to develop trigger points?
5. Pectoralis Minor: Palpation.
Where does the pectoralis minor attach?
Attachment Points. The pectoralis minor originates from the coracoid process and runs to the upper ribs. The Xs in the picture display common areas of trigger points in this muscle. 3. Function. When the muscles contracts, it pulls the shoulder blade downward, forward and inward towards the ribs.
Treatment
- General health websites prescribe Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation (R.I.C.E) for every muscle ache and pain. Lucky for you, Facts & Physio doesn’t endorse outdated, ineffective treatments. Despite its popularity, the R.I.C.E. protocol slows recovery for musculoskeletal sprains and strai…
Soft Tissue Treatment
- These exercises address trigger points in the pectoral muscles. Recall from the Symptomssection that pec trigger points cause chest, shoulder, elbow, and hand pain.
Stretching
- You probably know that I’m not a huge fan of stretching. Stretching by itself won’t speed up recovery from a muscle strain. But gentle mobility work has its place–it prevents an injured pec from healing in a shortened position.
Push-Ups
- Rebuilding pec muscle strength is vital to recovery and regaining function. Push-up variations strengthen the pecs and remodel the injured tissue.
Bench Press
- The bench press exercise (or a chest press on weight training machines) is the best way to build powerful pectoral muscles.
Caution!
- Muscle strains aren’t the only cause of chest pain. A serious medical issue, like a heart attack or panic attack, can cause chest pain. If you’re unsure about the source of your chest pain, it’s a good idea to talk with a qualified healthcare provider to rule out serious issues–especially if you have a medical history of heart problems. It could save your life! Read more about chest and mid back r…
Wrapping Up
- Like any muscle strain, the severity of a pec injury determines how long it takes to recover. Healing can take a few days to a few months (5). Fortunately, muscles have good blood flow so they heal faster than tendons and ligaments. If you’ve been nursing a chest strain for a long time or suffered a severe injury, it’s a good idea to see an orthopedic physician or physical therapist. …