Injuries often result in terrible personal experiences. For example, they worsen the health of the injured and negatively affect other aspects of their lives. Tissue injuries are common types of injuries. Fortunately, chiropractic care provides effective injury treatment in Spartanburg for soft tissue injuries.
According to the National Safety Council, US residents experienced 55.4 million injuries in 2020. These injuries cost more than a billion dollars. You can sustain different types of soft tissue injuries from auto accidents, at the workplace, or while doing sports.
Furthermore, there are things you need to know before a soft tissue injury is diagnosed. First, unlike many patients presently do, soft tissue injuries should be treated with more than common pain meds. Instead, patients should seek professional care like chiropractic.
So, in this article, you will learn more about the nature of soft tissue injuries and the type of soft tissue injuries chiropractors treat. Finally, we will explain the chiropractic procedures used to treat soft tissue injuries.
What Are Soft Tissue Injuries?
Let’s start by defining soft tissues. Soft tissues are body tissues that the process of ossification does not harden. They include ligaments, muscles, and tendons. As the name implies, soft tissues are tender. They are soft areas of the body that can suffer injury after a trauma, like a strain, sprain, or overload.
Several activities can lead to soft-tissue damage of ligaments, muscles, and tendons. Soft tissue injuries may cause pain, bruises, swelling, and complications that may affect other parts of the body.
Musculoskeletal disorders are a form of soft tissue injuries caused by sudden or sustained exposure to repetitive motion, force, or vibration. This type of soft tissue injury is work-related. A report from the Centre for Disease Control showed that musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of worker absenteeism and account for nearly 70 million doctor visits annually.
What Causes Soft Tissue Injuries?
Soft tissue injuries frequently result from smaller stabilizing muscles moving rapidly to make up for the underactive larger stabilizing muscles like the hamstrings, glutes, and quads.
Most people associate soft-tissue injuries, such as a torn ligament or a pulled oblique, with sports or those who engage in vigorous exercise. However, non-athletes can still sustain soft tissue injuries. Below, we identify and explain some of the main causes of soft tissue injuries.
Slip or Fall
Depending on how hard you fall, the quick impact might damage your muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Since your arms and wrists are the most likely points of impact if you fall and manage to catch yourself, the pressure from the fall may cause soft tissue damage there.
Overuse
Repetitive motions and overusing your muscles to the point of strain are the usual causes of sports injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other similar conditions. When they are overused, muscles deteriorate, tendons and ligaments rip, and nerves become agitated; all of these lead to pain and may require chiropractic treatment for patients to recover fully.
Blunt Force
Blunt force can cause a wide range of soft-tissue injuries when you are involved in a car accident or any other collision. Due to the impact on the muscle, this force can strain and sprain various regions of your body, shredding tissue as well as causing bruises.
Sudden Twist
You may sometimes twist a body part to catch yourself when you fall, lose your balance, or stop additional injury during an accident. This may cause the soft tissue in that area of your body to become overextended and even tear, thereby leading to a soft tissue injury.
Regardless of the causes of soft tissue injuries, they have similar symptoms. The following are symptoms of soft tissue injuries.
- Mild heat
- Swelling
- Redness
- Pain around the affected area
Types of Soft Tissue Injuries Handled by Chiropractors
We can categorize soft tissue injuries into three classes depending on their severity.
Grade 1 (Mild)
These soft tissue injuries happen when excessive stretching causes microscopic damage to the body’s fibers, leading to tenderness or swelling.
Grade 2 (Moderate)
Moderate soft tissue injuries involve a degree of tearing, which may feel like an abnormal amount of looseness in the joint and result in pain, swelling, and tenderness.
Grade 3 (Severe)
These soft tissue injuries result in severe or complete tears, which take much longer to heal. In addition, following a severe injury, people frequently discover they are completely unable to function with the affected joint or muscle.
Examples of This Type Of Injury
There are many types of soft tissue injuries, and they can fall under any of the categories above. The following are some common soft tissue injuries experienced by patients and treated by chiropractors.
Sprains
Ligament tearing or stretching results in a sprain. The ankle is one joint that sprains frequently. Notably, symptoms of sprains include swelling, pain, bruising, and a limited range of movement in the affected joint.
Whiplash
Whiplash is one of the most frequent soft tissue injuries. In car accidents, Whiplash often results from a rear-end collision. However, it can also occur from a sharp shock to the neck at speeds up to 5 mph. The tissues surrounding the shoulders, neck, and skull base can suffer damage when patients suffer Whiplash.
Contusions
An injury to the soft tissue known as a contusion (bruise) often arises from blunt force such as a kick, fall, or strike. As a result of the bleeding into the tissue, there will be pain, inflammation, and discoloration. Symptoms of contusions include tiredness, swelling, or stiffness of the affected area.
Tendonitis
Tendonitis is an inflammation of the tendon, a flexible tissue strip connecting muscle to bones. Tendonitis results from repetitive motion causing an overuse injury in the affected area. The most frequently impacted body parts are the elbow, hand, wrist, shoulder, hip, knee, ankle, and foot.
How Do Chiropractors Treat Soft Tissue Injuries?
Chiropractic care is an excellent option for treating injuries of this type because it doesn’t just deal with the symptoms but directly treats the causes. The following are methods chiropractors use in treating soft tissue injuries.
- Ultrasound therapy
- Balance adjustment
- Massage
- Trigger point therapy
- Heat therapy
Get The Best Injury Treatment in Spartanburg at Carolina Spine and Pain Center
Have you been in a car accident or sustained an injury of this type from any of the causes we mentioned above? Then, you should visit our injury treatment center today to get rid of the pain and start your journey to full recovery.
Our experienced team of Carolina Spine and Pain Center chiropractors know how pain affects your body and other aspects of your life. So, we are passionate about providing the best and most personalized care you need to recover fully. So, book an appointment to visit our treatment center today.
