Can you pull a stomach muscle

Cold therapy may help reduce inflammation. Using heat therapy can help relax your muscles and relieve tension, which helps reduce pain. Heat also increases blood flow to the affected area. This can promote healing and reduce inflammation. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs , such as ibuprofen Advil and naproxen sodium Aleve , may also help relieve swelling and inflammation.

You may consider wearing an abdominal binder or bandage to help compress your abdominals. The applied pressure can help minimize movement and swelling.

Talk to your doctor about how long and how tight you should wear the binder to resolve your symptoms. Choose a binder made of hypoallergenic material to avoid any allergic reaction, too. Rest as much as you can and avoid any activities that cause you stress or strain. This is especially important if you have an athletic injury. Take it easy until your pain subsides completely. This could take up to a few weeks. Once your symptoms have subsided, you can begin abdominal and core strengthening exercises.

Curlups and pelvic tilts are two popular therapies. If your body allows, do these exercises a few times a week. Make sure you give yourself time to rest in between sessions. Your symptoms may be a sign of an underlying condition.

Your doctor can help you determine the best course of treatment and see if there are any underlying conditions. Recurrent abdominal strain can lead to complications. More often than not, pain in the lower right abdomen is nothing to worry about and will go away on its own in a day or two.

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Pulled stomach muscle: Causes, treatments, and how to identify. Causes Symptoms Diagnosis When to see a doctor Treatment Summary The abdominal muscles stretch over the abdomen from the chest to the hips, covering the center and sides also. Share on Pinterest A person may pull an abdominal muscle by not warming up properly before exercise. Pulled muscle, strain, or hernia? Share on Pinterest Heavy lifting can cause a hernia. When to see a doctor.

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Related Coverage. What can cause stomach pain and nausea? Medically reviewed by Saurabh Sethi, M. What can cause stomach churning? What can cause stomach pain when breathing? What causes sharp stomach pain that comes and goes? What causes a pulse in the stomach? Medically reviewed by Elaine K. Luo, M. Depending on the number of fibers torn, this type of injury may be quite debilitating for the athlete. The athlete may experience sudden abdominal pain, marked tenderness, localized swelling, and discoloration.

Third Degree Abdominal Muscle Strain — A third degree muscle strain is the most severe injury and is diagnosed as a complete muscle rupture either at its insertion, origin, or midsection.

Along with the symptoms of a second degree muscle strain, the athlete may also experience the symptoms of shock including nausea, vomiting, pale skin, excess perspiration, difficulty breathing, and a shallow and rapid heart rate.

Athletes suspected of a full rupture muscle tear should be immediately removed from the activity and provided emergency medical care until emergency services arrive. The athlete should be kept still while an ice pack is applied to the injury. An abdominal strain is easily diagnosed by a sports medicine professional with the use of a thorough medical history and complete clinical evaluation. Palpation of the injury site combined with abdominal muscle tests can provide enough information to determine the severity of the abdominal muscle injury as well as the specific muscle injured.

They are usually acute traumatic injuries seen in athletes in the sports of baseball, softball, basketball, gymnastics, and track and field. The most common causes of abdominal strains are sudden twisting i. If the force of the movement is stronger than the fibers of the muscles can withstand, the muscle will begin to stretch.

If the force continues, the fibers may begin to tear. Continued force could cause a complete rupture within the muscle or between the muscle and its fascial attachment. Athletes can prevent abdominal muscle strains by maintaining the flexibility of their trunk and increasing the strength of their core muscles.

The good thing is that many sports programs already include core strength training exercises as part of their conditioning program. If athletes are involved in programs that do not incorporate core training, a large variety of these types of exercises are used by personal trainers, physical therapists, and certified athletic trainers.

These professionals can be consulted for additional or advanced exercises to strengthen core muscles. Here are a few good at home abdominal exercises. The Bridge — Is a core exercise that can be done without equipment.

It is easily performed and has a lot of variations that can be added to increase the difficulty level of the specific exercise. The Side Plank — Is another alternative to the regular plank. The idea is the same but the athlete is in a side lying position.

This can be done with multiple leg lifts or by just holding the leg lift for a number of seconds. Immediate treatment — Involves using the P. The ice pack can be reapplied every two hours for the first two to three days post-injury.

Rest is another component of the P. Injuries to the arms or legs can easily be protected and rested through the use of crutches, slings, or braces. However, splinting the trunk of the body is not such an easy task. Wear Ace Bandage — To assist the athlete in supporting the injured area, the athlete may choose to wear an ace bandage.

The ace bandage also serves to add compression to the area minimizing any swelling. Mild Stretching — After the pain begins to subside, the athlete can begin mild stretching of the injured area along with isometric contractions to begin to strengthen and heal the injured tissue. Stretching should proceed slowly and be performed carefully so as not to cause any pain.