Many people have experienced muscle pull or muscle strain one too many times in their lifetimes. If you are among the majority of people that have experienced a muscle pull or strain, you’ll be able to relate to how painful it is. The thing about muscle pull or muscle strain is that it is unpredictable. You don’t know the extent to which the strain could go. In very severe cases, the muscle or the tendon in the affected area can get torn. This particular type is called “Grade 3” muscle strain, which requires surgery to fix.
The kind of people that experience the “Grade 3” muscle strain are usually the “gym bros”. They love working out, lifting heavy weights in the gym, and doing pushups with one or two hands. When a person gets the “Grade 3” muscle strain, tendon reconstruction surgery is required to fix the torn muscle fiber or tendon. In this article, we are going to look at how this procedure is done, and some recovery tips.
The Process
For a “Grade 3” muscle strain, doctors might recommend a surgery called Surgical Tendon Reconstruction. Basically, this surgery aims to reattach the tendon to the bone and replace the damaged tissue.
The process of this surgery first requires you to meet up with the doctor to prepare for the surgery. The doctor will discuss what to expect and what the recovery would be like. Afterwards, you’ll be required to run some tests or imaging like an MRI to see exactly how bad the tear is. On D-Day, you’ll get anesthesia so you won’t feel any pain during the procedure. The type of anesthesia that will be given to you depends on your situation. There are different types of anesthesia. Local anesthesia, which numbs a particular area, and general anesthesia, which makes you completely unconscious.
Following that, the surgeon will make an incision near the injury site. He’ll locate the torn tendon and reattach it to the bone or repair the torn end together using stitches or anchors. In some cases, the surgeon might use grafts, which are a piece of tissue from another part of the body or a donor, if the tendon is severely damaged. Once everything is done, the skin is stitched back together using staples or actual stitches. You’ll be taken to the recovery room to recover from the anesthesia.
Recovery Tips
Firstly, you need to strictly follow the doctor’s orders. Some people do whatever feels right for them, but it’s up to you to follow the doctor’s orders for quick recovery results.
Secondly, you need to give your body time to heal. You can place ice on the affected area to reduce the swelling, especially after the first few days of surgery. Afterwards, you might need to start physical therapy to regain strength and movement in that particular area.
Say, for instance, you had a torn muscle in your arm, and it was a “Grade 3” muscle strain. It’s going to be very difficult for you to move your arm until the surgery is done. So you would need physical therapy to regain strength in that area.
Furthermore, try not to put too much weight or pressure on the injured area. Lastly, you have to stay positive because recovery can be really tough, especially when you’ve lost movement in that particular area. So it’s all a gradual process of learning how to use that part of your body again and get back to a regular schedule.
Conclusion
In the case of grade 3 muscle strain, the muscle or tendon tends to tear, which will require surgery to fix. When this happens, a surgery called tendon reconstruction which reconnects the tendon to the bones, is recommended by the doctor.