What Are Muscle Pains and Strains & Can Physiotherapy Help?

Does it hurt when you lift your arm, or walk, or sit, or reach for the ball? What about when you dance or jump or swim? Whatever you are doing, muscle pain should not be the result. Similarly, swelling, decreased range of motion, heat, and bruising can be indicators that you are experiencing muscle strain. Keep reading to discover what you can do to lessen the pain and get back in motion.

What Is Muscle Pain?

If you are asking this question, you are either lucky not to know firsthand or are seeking to make sense of what is going on in your body. Muscle pain is a distressing sensation in the muscles, which are the tissues in our body that help us move. When it comes to muscle pain, we tend to think of the skeletal muscles, but, of course, the smooth and cardiac muscles in our body can also become strained and painful. Let’s examine muscle pain to the muscles we can control – arms, legs, hands, neck, back, etc.   

Muscle pain can be caused by a variety of things, including overuse, tension, stress, sprains, and strains, which are a type of muscle injury caused by the overstretching of muscle fibres. Muscle strains and other muscle pain can feel sharp, dull, or aching, throbbing, pulsing, or burning. Muscle pain can range from mild to severe and all the way to debilitating, while muscle strains are classed into three grades of severity: moderate, mild, severe. 

It is best to deal with muscle pain and strain before they become unbearable for three main reasons:

1. There is no need to suffer. 
   
   
2. Early intervention can lead to quicker and fuller rehabilitation or recovery.
   
   
3. Prolonged compensation for pain can affect the movement of the body and have farther-reaching impacts than the injured site. This is seen when chronic lower back pain, for example, causes someone to change their posture and gait to lessen the pain. However, muscle imbalances and an altered kinetic chain result due to this unnatural posture. Suddenly the knees hurt as they wear differently due to the person’s new gait and altered centre of gravity. The secondary pain, the knee pain, as well as the primary pain, the lower back, continue. More compensation is required, which leads to more muscle strain and pain, and compensation, etc. until the pain and strain limit function and make exercise, sports, and even daily activities difficult and painful. 

How Physiotherapy Can Help 

A physiotherapist is a musculoskeletal professional who is able to assess and diagnose muscle pain and strain. They then offer a treatment plan that uses a range of techniques to help their patients feel less pain, recover, rehabilitate, and avoid future muscle strain, pain, and injury.

Physiotherapy treatment includes hands-on treatments such as massage and manipulation, exercise to do at home, and education on how to move, sit, and stand to prevent further muscle strain or pain. 

Physiotherapy in the Lower Mainland

If you are experiencing muscle pain or regular discomfort, contact a physiotherapist near you. The team at Back in Motion Health is available to serve patients throughout British Columbia’s Lower Mainland at our physiotherapy clinics serving Vancouver, North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Surrey, Richmond, Abbotsford and our new clinic in London, Ontario.

Angus has a passion for exercise and movement and empowers his clients by giving them the tools they need to regain their mobility and reach their goals. Before his career in physical therapy, he worked as a personal trainer to help empower others in their fitness journey. 

Book online with Angus in Vancouver.