anyone know the difference of a muscle tear vs. strain?

Submitted by selmacl1906 on September 19, 2012 - 5:46am
Body: 

i believe i had a pulled abdominal muscle and yesterday, lifting a heavy bag of groceries, i felt a sharp pain (like a spasm) and now it's really in pain. i believe it's the upper rectus abdominus (and yes, i was in posture) - now i am scared it might be torn. there is no swelling or bruising but there is pain and i am SO limited now in what i can do - no lifting, turning, etc.

this is really complicating my situation b/c my abdominal muscles really affect my pelvic pain. i can't seem to get over this injury and it's starting to really get me down. i know with a torn abdominal muscle you really need to rest it for a good long time. rest is something that is very difficult for me!

any insight here - i am trying to get in for an MRI soon but all the doctor stuff is annoying. i am hoping it's just a bad strain and not torn......

Forum:

Christine

September 19, 2012 - 8:51am

Hi Selmaci - sorry to hear of your accident! I believe the difference is illustrated in the words themselves.

Just how did you lift the bag of groceries?

Hope you feel better soon.

Christine

selmacl1906

September 19, 2012 - 10:39am

hi christine,
the bag was rather heavy and in the trunk of my car which is about waist high - i sort of bent knees to hug in close to center and kept head lifted rather than tucking forward. i think i strained it because it was already pulled and just very sensitive. the strain is right at top of rectus abdominus to the right of sternum but i am feeling little twinges and pain sensations all throughout abdominals. makes recovery and implementing all these things very difficult!

feeling a little broken rightnow...

was there a better way to lift the heavy bag? maybe just calling husband is the best way. lol

MsNightingale

September 19, 2012 - 10:55am

I cannot offer any advise on the muscle difficulties you are having. I can, however, tell you that I now call my husband to carry anything and everything that I need to stop and think about. My feeling is, if I go to lift the laundry, I now know how to stay in posture. Once I look at the 30lb dog food bag however and need to think about it....best thing is just let him get it. I am wishing you the very best for a quick recovery!

Christine

September 19, 2012 - 11:00am

Hi Selma,

Yes, I just read through your history and see that you've been feeling this "tearing" sensation from the beginning. Your abdominal condition sounds severe and someday we will have lots of information on how c-section can mutilate the musculature of the abdominal wall, which is so very important to organ support.

I think we can help you by pointing out the differences between bracing and pulling in the abdominal wall.

While seated, just let your whole stomach flop out and place the palm of your hand on the middle of your belly. Now pull up into the upper WW posture. You see that your abdominal wall did not pull in, but it is now firm - let's call it braced.

Now let's carry that concept a bit further and pretend you are picking up something heavy. To do this, you will brace the abdomen even more. When the abdomen is further braced it actually puffs out slightly further to the front as the musculature becomes very stiff. When it is fully braced, you will look like a power weight lifter, who knows it would be crazy to try to lift with the abdominal muscles contracted and shortened. They are strong when they are long.

I will do a blog post on intraabdominal pressure, just as soon as I complete the one in my head, which is about hysterectomy.

I really hope we can help you, but frankly you sound pretty strung out. This work is about self-awareness and self-responsibility. Hope you make the leap.

Christine

prolapse2012

September 19, 2012 - 1:11pm

I have even gone so far as to let DH open any doors for me now. I wasn't staying in WW form, so its better to get him to do it for now.

selmacl1906

September 19, 2012 - 1:19pm

i think i am understanding the differencing in that you don't actually contract the abs in to the belly button but you sort of further harden the abdominal wall in that natural relaxed state? when you use the term "puffed out" my only issue is that i can't force my diastasis OUT any further or it widens it more and more so puffing out by pushing it out is really bad for me. but i think i get the concept of what you are saying.

as far as the posture goes....when i let my belly hang out then lift my chest i feel my upper abs harden a bit but my lower ones where the separation is never feels "firm
" in any way. lol.

i know when i signed on here i was, and still am, in a pretty bad place. between the injury and pelvic pain it's sort of the perfect storm. but i've come such a long way since my c-section and i know once i heal this and perfect the posture it will start to click.

i am already sitting in a much more relaxed manner and actually it doesn't feel awkward anymore, it almost feels like i'm lighter. my only issue is that my psoas muscles will tighten up a lot. but anyway, i've gotten a lot out of the posture - i think at this point it's the strain in my ab wall that just simply needs time to heal.

Christine

September 19, 2012 - 2:24pm

Yes, the lower belly is soft - we often refer to this as a relaxed lower belly, as there is very little muscle in the lower belly - it's almost all connective tissue and fat except for the outer rectus muscles.

I agree that "puffed out" is not a great term, but it's very descriptive in helping women understand the huge and important difference between natural posture and "pulling the ribs in and down". WW posture is very relaxed, even if we have to talk about it in terms of pushing, pulling, lifting, puffing, bracing, etc.

Take it slowly, Selma...most of the work is about becoming strong and relaxed.