A connective muscle injury is one of the most common injuries that occurs as a result of many reasons and the incidence of this injury is widespread among athletes, especially football players.

Therefore, it is one of the most common sports injuries and the methods of treating this injury vary according to the degree of injury and the nature of the sport practiced by the athlete .

In this article, we will learn about connective muscle injury, how it happens and the best ways to treat it

What is a connective muscle:

Playing sports, especially football, is the most prone to injury to the connective muscle, especially when training is interrupted for a certain period.

The connective muscle is not a single muscle, but a group of muscles, and the connective muscle is located on the inside of the thigh.

The reason why the connective muscle is called by that name is because it includes the thigh inward and the connective muscle consists of 5 muscles connected from one end to the pelvic bone to the inner side, while on the other side the muscle is connected to the thigh bone.

Causes of connective muscle injury

The connective muscle is one of the main muscles of the thigh, it helps move the thigh and supports the body when walking, running, jumping. This muscle is exposed to injury in several cases, and one of the most important causes of connective muscle injury is:

1. Exercise: the connective muscle can be injured during exercise that requires significant hip movement, such as running, jumping, soccer, basketball.
2. Overexertion: overexertion of the connective muscle can lead to injury, it happens when the muscle is overloaded or when movements are repeated too much without getting enough rest.
3. Muscle sprain: a sprain of the connective muscle can occur when the thigh is moved abnormally or when a direct collision occurs between the thigh and the ground.
4. Age: the risk of injury to the connective muscle increases with age, as muscle elasticity decreases and the body becomes less able to recover from injuries.
5. Overuse: the connective muscle can be injured when it is overused in everyday life, such as carrying heavy objects or doing sports activities in excess.

Types of connective muscle injuries:

Connective muscle injuries vary according to a range of degrees, the pain of the connective muscle may be mild or severe pain, and often the pain becomes worse when walking or when moving the leg, and the person may also suffer from a range of cramps in the thigh muscles, therefore, the stretching or tearing of the thigh muscles, including the connective muscle, is classified into a number of degrees :

• First degree: at this degree, the pain becomes mild with little loss of strength or movement
• Second degree: at this degree, the pain becomes mild to moderate with loss of strength, and therefore some tissues may be damaged
• Third degree: the pain may be severe in this degree, in addition to severe loss of strength and movement, which causes a complete rupture of the connective muscle
• The types of connective muscle injury vary due to the different symptoms that appear in any degree of them :

Symptoms of a connective muscle injury:

• The presence of bruises and swelling of the connective muscle and thigh area
• Feeling pain when a person lifts his knee or when closing and opening his legs
• Feeling warmer than usual in the groin area.
• Muscle weakness
• Difficulty moving the leg and sometimes lameness
• Feeling of crackling when injured

Exercises for strengthening the connective muscle:

To strengthen the connective muscle, you must do a set of exercises that help achieve this, where you can do some exercises that can help reduce muscle tension injury or by taking some medications for the muscles.

The exercises to strengthen the connective muscle are done by stretching and massaging the muscles and then pulling the upper part of the affected foot towards the head while keeping the foot in an upright position.

Among the exercises for the connective muscle there are:

Large adductor exercises

This exercise involves doing a compound movement such as doing a side lunge to target the connective muscle and other muscles in the upper leg

This exercise is done by :

• Stand up straight with feet placed next to each other
• Move step to the right with your right foot impulsively
• Keep the torso straight and the left leg as straight as possible
• Repeat 10 lateral movements and then take a break

Floor extension :

A simple exercise that you can do at home, just follow these steps:

• Lie down on the floor and make a face up
• The feet should be taut and straight
• Slowly move the right leg to the side of the body
• Return the leg to a central position
• Repeat with the left leg
• Chair lift
• This exercise is an important exercise for the treatment of connective muscle strain
• Treatment of a connective muscle injury:
• A connective muscle injury can be treated using several methods, including exercises, medications, various physiotherapy methods, or through physiotherapy devices

As the pain of the connective muscle can be treated with exercises, as mentioned earlier, this injurycan be treated using other methods, including :

• Taking vitamin B supplements, which helps in the treatment of connective muscle
• Taking some of the pain medication
• Avoid doing exercises that cause muscle cramps and cramps
• Do a warm-up before participating or starting to exercise
• Drink water in sufficient quantities
• Apply cold or warm water compresses to the sore part

Treatment of pain in the connective muscle :

Connective muscle pain can be treated using more than one method, and the use of any of them depends on the nature of the condition, the degree of injury and other factors

The connective muscle pain is treated within 24-48 hours immediately after the injury in order to avoid the symptoms and complications that occur as a result of the rupture and to avoid increasing its severity in terms of swelling, pain and bleeding

And sometimes the affected doctor may advise some of the following instructions :

• Resting the leg and trying not to walk on it or not exercising for a certain period of time, and often it may be allowed to move lightly after 48 hours of rest in order to prevent any complications or worsening of the health condition
• Connective muscle pain is sometimes treated using crutches to facilitate movement, relieve pressure and reduce tension on the leg
• An ice pack can be applied to the area as a kind of compress for 15-20 minutes every two hours, and a bandage can also be attached to the groin area so that it can form a compress on the upper part of it, which greatly contributes to alleviating and treating the condition
• Some anti-inflammatory drugs are taken and painkillers are taken as prescribed by the Attending Physician to improve the patient’s condition
• Additional treatment is also prescribed depending on the severity of the tear and muscle strain, and includes some treatments, the most important of which are physiotherapy, massage therapy, electrotherapy, and surgery can also be resorted to in some cases if the condition is in the third degree, where work must be done to repair the torn fibers.

Duration of treatment of connective muscle pain :

A connective muscle injury is one of the most frequent types of muscle injury. When any player is injured, he must immediately stop participating in any sports activities and rely on complete rest for a period of 3 days, in addition to giving the necessary painkillers and conducting a set of cold compresses.

In addition to putting some compression ligaments in order to prevent the aggravation of bleeding. Therefore, the injured person should start a comprehensive and integrated physiotherapy and rehabilitation program that will help him get better.

This rehabilitation program may take between 5 days to about 2-3 months, depending on the severity and type of injury, while there are some cases that require surgical intervention, such as a fracture and tendon rupture

In addition to the above, the severity of the injury is a major factor affecting the duration of treatment of myositis, so the degree of injury is classified into 3 degrees and the duration of treatment of a connective muscle injury varies according to the severity of the injury, so the :

Degrees of connective muscle injury and duration of its treatment:

First degree: the duration of treatment ranges from 1 to 2 weeks until the patient can return to exercise again, but he can walk in a few days
Second degree: for the treatment of a connective muscle injury, the patient in this case needs about 3 to 6 weeks for complete recovery
Third degree: it is one of the most severe types of injuries, in this case the whole muscle or part of it is torn, and the player needs between 3 to 4 months to reach full recovery

Physiotherapy for stretching the connective muscle :

One of the best treatment methods that achieve great effectiveness for a person at all stages of treatment and make treatment very easy is physiotherapy and sports rehabilitation, and the most important physiotherapy methods used are :

• Physical therapy
• Massage therapy
• Heat or expansion therapy
• Electrotherapy

A connective muscle injury can be treated using physiotherapy and sports medicine devices that help relieve pain, reduce inflammation and swelling resulting from the severity of the injury.through physiotherapy, muscle spasms can be relieved and the amount of pain and swelling reduced.

Also, in minor or rare cases, it is possible to resort to surgical treatment instead of physiotherapy.

In the case of severe acute injuries, the doctor resorts to surgery, where he works to reconnect the tendons to the bones or lengthen the connective muscle.

The best physiotherapy and Sports Rehabilitation Center for the treatment of connective tissue pain:

Fizik physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Center is one of the best centers in the treatment of connective muscle pain using the latest physiotherapy equipment and rehabilitation treatment programs for all patients in addition to the experience of doctors and medical staff present at the center.

Fizik center has the best treatment program with the highest international quality standards for the treatment of connective muscle injury, where there is an integrated unit for sports therapy and rehabilitation of sports injuries of all kinds, and there is also a sports measurements unit that works to restore motor balance, muscle flexibility and determine the efficiency of the player’s muscles.