Diagnosis
The diagnosis of muscle hardening is made purely clinically. This means that no invasive measures such as blood sampling or imaging are necessary for the diagnosis. Much more important is a good physical examination in which the muscle is palpated and its function is tested.
Classically, it is painful on palpation and feels hardened. If muscle hardening is particularly pronounced, the hardened muscle can only be moved as a “package” during a light massage and is often visible as a “muscle bulge”. In addition, the medical history can provide information about the cause of the hardening of the muscle.
This is the best way to solve muscle hardening in the back
Movement is essential for hardened muscles. For those affected, this means mobilizing despite pain and moving the muscles in the back. Often the exact opposite is the case: lack of movement is the trigger for hardened muscles in the back.
If only one side of the back muscles is strained, individual muscles are overstrained and consequently harden. If those affected pay attention to a balanced training of all their muscle groups, they can relieve other muscle groups when they are under heavy strain. In addition, the movement promotes the blood circulation in the muscles and metabolic products can be removed and important energy suppliers and electrolytes can be transported to the muscle.
In the case of very painful and persistent muscle hardening, heat in combination with a light massage can be helpful to treat most of the muscle hardening. However, these measures do not replace active movement of the muscles, as they do not reach every muscle fiber and only have an acute symptom-relieving effect. The only curative and preventive measure is a balanced training of the back muscles.
It does not matter whether it is done through leisure activities, competitive sports or physiotherapy. There are various home remedies that can be used against muscle hardening. It is entirely in the hands of the person concerned, which he or she considers to be effective.
A popular household remedy is the application of so-called potato pillows on the hardened muscle. For this, potatoes are boiled, mashed while still warm and then wrapped in a dry cloth. The purpose of this is to promote local blood circulation and to make use of the potato’s good heat storage capacity for a long application.
Alternatively, a grain pillow or a hot-water bottle can of course be placed on the affected area. An obsolete household remedy is to rub the skin with apple vinegar or Weinbrandt. Although external application promotes blood circulation in the short term, the liquids damage the natural protective film of the skin and thus promote local intolerance reactions and bacterial infections.
Instead of applying herbs or oils, affected persons should therefore rather massage the area if it is accessible to them. Light pressure and pulling on the affected area can relieve the tension in the muscle fibers much better. If the muscle hardening cannot be achieved by hand, stretching exercises can have just as good an effect.
The principle of stretching muscle fibers can be compared to a massage, since both methods stretch the muscles mechanically. The contracted muscle fibers have to smooth themselves during the stretching process and the tension is thus deliberately interrupted. In order to prevent the tension from returning, however, the stretching state must be maintained until the metabolic products that have accumulated in the muscle have been removed by the blood circulation.
If the stretching is carried out correctly, it can therefore very well release muscle hardenings. However, it requires regular use. Basically, all preparations that promote blood circulation are recommended.
An example of an ointment that promotes blood circulation is the Finalgon ointment. Although it is unpleasant to use because it causes a strong burning sensation and accompanying redness on the skin, it effectively increases the blood circulation and thus the removal of acidic metabolic products from the muscle. As an alternative, Voltaren ointment can be used, whereby this primarily only helps against the pain.
It is entirely up to the taste and experience of the person affected whether he or she prefers to use heat or cold for muscle hardening.The majority, however, prefer warming compresses, as this directly stimulates the blood circulation in the muscle and the tension can then be slowly released. Cold only works against muscle hardening in a second step. It first numbs the sensitive nerve endings in the affected muscle part, whereupon the affected person can move better.
This in turn causes the affected muscle to be stretched and as a result, the blood supply to it is improved. Taping muscles is intended to reduce the tension of the muscle fibers. Imagine that the tape splints the muscle attachments and thus reduces the strain on the muscle fibers.
As a result, the muscle is relaxed and the fibers can regenerate at rest. The disadvantage of taping, however, is that the effect does not last for long, because compensatory other muscle groups become more tense during certain movements, which in turn can lead to new muscle hardening. In addition, the elastic effect diminishes quickly depending on the quality of the tape and is therefore often not sufficiently effective.
Fascia therapies are intended to loosen adhesions of the muscle sheaths (=fascia) and thus improve the mobility of the individual muscle groups. To this end, patients should rhythmically move the affected body part back and forth over a so-called fascia roll so that the adhesions can be loosened mechanically. Unfortunately, this is often painful and is not tolerated even by healthy people.
If the muscles are hardened, the therapy is particularly unpleasant. However, if a muscle hardening has already been solved by other measures, it is a good method to prevent further hardening. The use of injections to loosen hardened muscles should be reserved for chronic muscle tension.
However, this is not so much classical muscle tension, but rather spasticity with a high degree of suffering on the part of the person concerned. The only exception to the use of injections in acute cases should be strongly painful spasms, which cannot be terminated by other measures such as the administration of magnesium as an effervescent tablet. In such cases, a doctor can give magnesium intravenously or even special medication such as antiepileptic drugs in justified individual cases.
