When we look at soft tissue damage, sprains and strains are generally the cause of them. They differ quite a lot however, and should be discussed in more detail so that you can talk to your orthopedic doctor about treatment plans for your injury.

A sprain is a joint injury where the ligaments have undergone a tearing from the joint capsule. A strain, however, is an injury to the muscle or the tendons. These sorts of soft tissue injuries can be considered acute (sudden) or occur gradually over time and slowly get worse (chronic). Many times they can take between two and twelve weeks to actually heal depending of course on the extent of the injury as well as the initial treatment of the injury and the way that it is managed there after. The age of the patient as well as their overall health is also taken into consideration when we estimate recovery time.

Should you have suffered a sprain or strain you should see your orthopedic doctor as soon as possible. The right initial treatment of this sort of soft tissue injury can mean the difference in recovery time and successful rehabilitation.

Some of the symptoms of a sprain and strain can be (but aren’t restricted to):

• Pain
• Swelling
• Stiffness
• Lack of movement and motion

There are three different grades of severity for acute sprain and strain injuries. They include:

• Grade I – some tearing of the fibers around the site and the area is moderately painful and swollen, although strength and functionality are for the most part unaffected.
• Grade II- multiple fibers are torn and the swelling around the area is very painful, there seems to be some lack of function and strength seems to be depleted.
• Grade III-soft tissue is considered completely torn, there is also a high degree of function lost as well as strength.
• These sorts of injuries often require surgery to repair. Please talk to your orthopedic doctor about your treatment and recovery options for your sprain or strain injury.