Symptoms and signs of a torn muscle fiber in the lower leg
The first symptoms of a torn muscle fiber is the sudden onset of pain, which spreads burning locally in the calf muscle area. The pain can be so severe that the movement just performed must be interrupted acutely. Visible bruising can also occur in the area of the muscle’s point of rupture.
Furthermore, small dents can also be seen in the area of the superficial muscle layer. If many muscle bundles are torn off or torn through, there may also be a noticeable impairment of movement in the affected muscle. The patient notices that he or she is suddenly unable to perform movements that he or she could previously easily perform.
Often, a sporting activity is performed shortly before the muscle fiber rupture, e.g. the patient starts moving quickly or slows down strongly. The subsequent acute stabbing or burning pain is almost from the description a proof of a muscle fiber rupture. Sometimes a slight numbness in the area where a rupture of the muscle fibre occurs can also be felt in the skin area. Relatively often there is also small swelling, which is caused by the fact that inflammatory fluid flows into the tissue surrounding the muscle due to the rupture of the muscle.However, the swelling is usually limited to the affected muscle and rarely visible and palpable throughout the entire lower leg.
Therapy and treatment of a torn muscle fiber in the lower leg
The therapy of a torn muscle fibre of the lower leg is almost always conservative, i.e. not surgical. It is important to cool the affected muscle immediately as soon as pain occurs in this area. Furthermore, the leg should be paused with sports, but under no circumstances should the leg be left completely immobile.
In orthopedics and trauma surgery, the so-called PECH principle has become generally accepted. This is an abbreviation for sport pausing, putting on the ice pack, compression treatment and elevation of the leg. Anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen or diclofenac can also be taken for support.
In addition to the pain-relieving effect, these also have an anti-inflammatory effect. In most cases, a 1-2 week period of protection and compression treatment with a bandage as well as occasional elevation is sufficient to alleviate the symptoms to such an extent that the leg can soon be fully loaded again. Surgical measures are rarely used in the event of torn or torn lower leg muscles.
However, an operation would be performed if entire muscle strands were torn off as a result of the sports accident and would impair the movement of the lower leg to such an extent that this would also have massive effects on the patient’s everyday life. During surgery, access to the injured muscle would first have to be created, which would then either be sutured or clipped. The physiotherapy that follows directly afterwards is important.
Even after a conservatively treated muscle fiber rupture, muscle-building physiotherapy should follow soon in order to regain the normal strengthening of the affected muscle sections. Today, orthopedics and/or trauma surgery are increasingly using tapering treatments for torn muscle fibers. In this procedure, an elastic, self-adhesive tape is applied to the affected muscle.
The exact effect of the tape, which is also known as kinesiotape, is still not completely understood. It is assumed, however, that the force acting on the injured muscle is dissipated by the kinesiotape and thus ensures that the impaired muscle is relieved. It is important that the tape is not applied to the muscle in a taut form.
There are also various techniques for applying a Kinesiotape. In addition to the actual muscle injury, the question of whether other lateral muscles, nerves or lymphatic vessels besides the injured muscle also need to be treated also contributes to the decision as to which adhesive technique is used. After the tape has been applied, the patient should not experience any newly occurring pain apart from a slight, pleasant feeling of pressure. If he does, the kinesiotape must be reapplied and its position changed if necessary. Kinesiotapes can be left over the injured muscle for several days or weeks as an accompanying treatment.
