Ice or Heat on strain? Stretch or not?

TKD SC

Hi guys,

V quick q's: I strained my inside thigh (abductor) muscle nearly 2 weeks ago. Not too bad. Stupidly I kept training for another week, and it got worse. Been 100% resting the last week.

No swelling. Think its a minor enough strain.

So, q's is at this stage, should I put ice on it (in evenings for like 20mins) or should I get some deep heat and rub that on it throughout day?

Also, should I be stretching it or not? Or doing any leg raises type exercises to start working the muscle a bit?

I've heard diff things re the above, so unsure now best approach to take.

Many thanks,

Simon

Colm_OReilly

Simon,

At this stage I'm tempted to say take a shotgun and end it all

If there's no swelling at this stage, there's no need to ice. You do, however, need to rebuild the muscle so start squatting. I posted a rehab protocol earlier on another thread that seems applicable to you.

After exercise, ice the area.

I'd recommend staying away from the heat solutions. A good warm up will bring blood into the area, which is really all that heart rubs do.

Reyman

I think it's called the adductor muscle! Anyway it's a slow healer. Get to a good physio and get some professional advice

wasabi

The usual advice is RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) and I usually chuck in ibuprofen, too - while the injury is still tender and swollen. Usually about 48 hours.

After that, applying heat packs is the way to go until it's healed - these help with blood flow to the area, and hence nutrients to get you healing up.

http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/sportsmedicine/a/iceorheat.htm

At this stage I would be doing heat packs. Also, avoid doing anything that's hurting it at all. I wouldn't try to train the area or stretch anything that I'd strained very recently myself. Use the time to work on upper body strength or just take some time off to deload is the way to go.

Also, if it hasn't been improving a lot during the week you've been resting, you really should head to the physio now.

TKD SC

Thanks a mill for the advise guys.
Much appreciated.

TKD SC

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

Simon,

At this stage I'm tempted to say take a shotgun and end it all

LOL! Ha ha!
Yeh, you're probably right! It's getting ridiculous! Maybe I should take up knitting...