Muscle injuries are common: Over-exertion strains happen everyday. Tight hamstrings develop strains when we run for the bus; Tight hip-flexors (psoas) strain when we start walking after a long day of sitting on the job. Tears to the muscles are a different story. They are one step beyond a strain. The muscle fibers don’t just get stretched beyond their normal limits, they actually begin to tear away from one another. This results in a lot of bruising and swelling, not to mention the damage to the appearance and function of the muscle.
One commonly occurring muscle tear is the biceps muscle. The biceps is a two-headed (see: BI-ceps) muscle that runs from the upper arm (near the shoulder) across the elbow. It functions to bend the elbow. Simple. Until it develops some weakness and/or tightness. Then, an overexertion causes a tear. Bruising, swelling, and often a lumpiness to the muscle develops. Next step: Recovery.
A 76-year-old patient of mine tore his biceps muscle lifting a heavy box down from a shelf in a store. Ouch! When the bruising became apparent, he visited his family physician. He was told to rest and expect at least 6 weeks for the bruising and injury to recover. Thankfully, this gentleman came to see me as well. I said, “We can do better than 6 weeks, can’t we!”. I had confidence I could help him beat the 6-week projection due to previous histories helping others with hamstring tears using my Laser Therapy device. Laser stimulates tissue repair by dilating blood vessels to bring nutrient-rich blood to the injury and carry waste products away; Laser stimulates energy production within the injured tissue cells to accelerate tissue repair. Below is the result in photos:
3 visits so far:
• Maximum brusing
• Moderate pain
• Decreased strength & function
• Significant reduction in brusing
• Limited pain
• Increased strength & fucntion
• Brusing gone
• No pain
• Function & strength nearing pre-injury levels
