You’ve probably heard the term “sprained ankle” or “torn ACL” before, but what exactly does it mean to sprain a body part or to tear another? Moreover, how do you effectively treat sprains and tissue tears? In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the difference between sprains and tears, and we explain how a physical therapist can help you overcome these different types of injuries.
What Is A Sprain?
Medically speaking, a sprain is when one or more of your ligaments is overstretched or torn. Sprains only refer to injuries to your ligaments, which are the strong tissues that connect bones to one another and stabilize joints, so you can’t exactly sprain a tendon or a muscle. If you are told that you’ve suffered a sprain, know that the injury is housed in your ligaments.
The most common type of sprain is an ankle sprain, which affects the supportive ligaments on either side of your ankle. When you roll or twist your ankle, these ligaments are overstretched, which can be traumatic in and of itself, or this motion can result in minor or major tearing of these supportive ligaments. Without proactive treatment, these overstressed ligaments will remain weakened as a result of the trauma, meaning they are more likely to suffer additional damage because of the lack of joint stability. It’s why you’re more likely to sprain your ankle again after suffering an original sprain that goes untreated, because those ligaments can no longer provide ample support to the ankle joint.
What Is A Tear?
A tear can occur in different soft tissues in the body, and as we noted above, it’s certainly possible that you tear a ligament in your body. We’ve seen partial or complete tears in the ankle or knee ligaments, but tears are not exclusive to ligaments. Tears can also occur in tendons or muscle tissue that are further away from joints. They can develop in many of the same ways as a sprain, with twisting, overstress or direct trauma being the main contributing factors to their onset.
Tears tend to be more severe than sprains, but your recovery timeline will be determined by your care team and individual factors. Oftentimes sprains can heal in a matter of weeks, while a recovery from a tear is typically measured in months. So while the length of your recovery program may differ, sprains and tears usually follow a similar recovery program, as both involve a heavy dose of physical therapy.
Treating Sprains And Tears
Physical therapy will make up the bulk of your recovery program regardless of whether you’re dealing with a sprain or a tear. Although both sprains and tears may be managed surgically, it’s what you do on your own during the weeks that follow that will drive home functionality with your injured tissue. Once you’ve been cleared for physical therapy (or if conservative methods will be pursued first), you will sync up with a PT who will conduct some baseline testing and review any medical imaging that’s been taken. They’ll carefully examine the area and put you through some baseline testing to assess your strengths and deficits. They’ll also touch on a recovery trajectory and talk with you about your personal goals so that they can chart a more specific course for your rehabilitation.
From there, they’ll begin by teaching you some simple movements that will gradually improve the strength, stability, flexibility and overall function of the affected tissue. As you progress, they’ll adjust your rehab routine so that it becomes more challenging, as this will help keep your recovery from plateauing. You can also expect to be given some home-based exercises to perform between sessions so that you can continue healing when you’re not in the clinic. Not only will most sprains and tears heal more quickly with the help of a dedicated physical therapy plan, but the injury site will typically become as strong or even stronger than it was prior to the injury, reducing your risk of an aggravation or recurrence.
Let us target those ligament sprains or those tissue tears with the help of an individualized physical therapy program so that you can get back to moving without discomfort. For more information on how we can help, or for treatment for a different issue, give the team at OrthoRehab Specialists a call today at (612) 339-2041.
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