Muscle Strain Recovery: Abdominal, Calf & Neck Strain Care

Recovering from an abdominal or calf strain requires proper rest, specific stretches, and sometimes cold therapy. Learn how to differentiate between a strain and a hernia, and discover the best vitamins to speed up muscle repair.

woman applying cold pack on her arm

Heat or Cold for Neck & Shoulder Pain?

Heat and cold can both be effective treatments for neck and shoulder pain. In general, ice is used immediately after an injury, while heat is more appropriate 2 to 3 days or longer after an injury.

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Injury

How to Run With a Calf Strain

By remaining patient and following some manageable steps, it is possible to successfully return to running after a calf strain.

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Man with knee brace

How to Run With a Pulled Hamstring

Your hamstrings factor heavily into the motion used to propel yourself while running. The physiology of taking a stride and swinging the leg through for another stride combined with the impact of each foot strike places tremendous strain on all the muscles of the legs.

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Physiotherapist doing thorax manipulation on woman.

Treatment for a Strained Chest Muscle

The pectoralis major is the large muscle that forms the front of your chest. You may strain this chest muscle while performing chest weightlifting exercises such as the bench press. Pain from a strained chest muscle may develop gradually or suddenly at the front of your arm or shoulder.

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How to Wrap a Hip Flexor Strain

Located on the front of your hip, your hip flexors are the primary movers you use to create flexion between your upper leg and torso at your hips. According to Cook Childrens Hospital, a hip flexor strain usually occurs when you have your hip flexor stretched and then it contracts while being forced backwards.

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Backache

Can Muscle Strain Cause Fever?

A muscle strain involves a stretching or tearing of muscle fibers. The most common locations for a muscle strain are your lower back and hamstring, which is the muscle in the back of your thigh. Muscle strains do not cause fever.

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Muscular male body on black background

Strain of the Pectoral Muscle

Your pectoral muscles are the large muscles in your chest, spanning from just below your collar bone down through your top six ribs. You use your pectoral muscles when you flex your shoulders and raise your arms over your head, such as when you apply underarm deodorant.

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How to Treat a Shoulder Muscle Strain

A muscle strain is a stretching or tearing of a muscle or tendon. Strains can occur in joints and muscles across the body, but the shoulders in particular are very susceptible to strains.

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Gluteus Medius Muscle Strain

The gluteus medius muscle is essential to many common daily movements, and you probably won't even think about it until it gets hurt. Because of it's central location and position, the gluteus medius risks injury from overuse, trauma, or even the compensation for pain in other areas.

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How to Relax Tense Neck Muscles

Tense neck muscles can cause pain in your neck and up into the back of your head. Many of your neck muscles insert into your upper back and shoulders, so you may experience pain in those areas, as well. Tense neck muscles also cause stiffness, which affects your neck's range of motion and mobility.

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Bath salts spilling from jar

Are There Supplements to Relax Tight Muscles?

Are tight and sore muscles keeping you from increasing your workout intensity, or, worse, sidelining you? After heavy exercise, it is important to replace lost fluids and minerals. Along with strenuous activity and overuse, other causes include poor posture, dietary deficiencies, and certain disorders.

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Vastus Lateralis & Muscle Strain

The vastus lateralis is one of four muscles that make up the quadriceps. These muscles work together to extend the knee. The vastus lateralis is located above the knee joint, toward the outer edge of the leg. It lies beneath the iliotibial tract, which is a band of fascia that runs vertically along the outer thigh.

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Therapy for Intercostal Muscles

Physically active people are more vulnerable to strains of the intercostal muscles, located between your ribs, but twisting your body in unexpected ways can cause the injury in anyone.

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Doctor stretching her patient neck

Neck Stretches for a Strained Muscle

Relieve neck pain with targeted stretches and exercises. Learn how to prevent neck strain, the best way to relieve discomfort, and simple steps to restore range of motion.

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fitness girl

Stiff Calf After Doing Calf Raises

Calf raises strengthen your calf muscles, which are the soleus, gastrocnemius and plantaris. Over-exerting your calf muscles along with poor flexibility can result in calf tightness or stiffness and injury. Treatment consists of rest, ice and light stretches.

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Cause of Chills in a Warm Environment

Experiencing chills in a warm environment is a result of the muscles quickly contracting and relaxing in an attempt to increase the body’s temperature. Chills often accompany or preclude fever but may also be symptomatic of nonfever-related conditions.

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Woman Icing Her Ankle

Chemicals Used in a Cold Pack

Applying ice to an injury is often one of the first steps to treat sprains, strains, muscle pulls and other common injuries. Cold therapy helps to constrict the blood vessels, reduce swelling and decrease inflammation. It can also numb the area to reduce pain.

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Tired runner laying on track

Signs and Symptoms of a Pulled Groin Muscle in Women

Groin muscle strains -- sometimes called pulled muscles -- are painful injuries, caused by forceful movements of your leg, such as stepping off a curb while off balance or falling with your leg stretched out to the side. Female athletes whose sports require running, jumping and kicking are prone to these injuries.

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