Old Injuries

[Joanna]

About 8 years ago, I had one of those "let me see how brilliant I can be" injuries.  I was doing some cool-down stretching after a long class, dropped into a side split and the resulting snap could be heard by a friend across the room.  It was pretty painful, but I was able to limp away with a wonderful new hamstring/glut tear.  I did initially take time off to let it heal (maybe 6 weeks), had some rehab (deep tissue massage and some rehab exercises), and after the first year I had rebuilt the surrounding muscle to get back probably about 85% of my leg strength.

Today I’d say my leg strength and flexibility are 100%, and often I don’t even notice this old injury.  At other times, I will have intense tenderness and often strange twinges/pulls (usually from sitting too long).  I haven’t figured out what exactly makes it flare up.  

My question is why do these sort of straight forward muscle tears not heal up and go away, and what can I do to fix it now?  I understand joint issues not healing, but I thought muscle tears would heal just fine in time.  Anyone have a similar experience?  Any advice?  Or should I just stop my crying :'( and “live with it”?

Joanna

[lmgrahamdc]

This is why I sometimes laugh (silently) when I have patients who complain of "little aches and pains".  Goodness, I always have something going on..., but as to muscle injuries and ligament injuries - they never go back to 100%.  The tissue that repairs better than ever, yet still has issues with pressure and dampness is bone.  You never quite get "over" muscle tears and ligaments as they heal with scar tissue that has less movement and flexibility - connective tissue scarring.  The best you can do is stretch it beyond normal (but not to injury) so that the pain you feel is minimal.  And, unfortunately, if you don't stay stretched, EVERY injury you have ever had, will come back to cause some discomfort.  Leslie

[Joanna]

Thanks for the response.  Hum, I suppose I am not suprised to hear that muscles and ligaments are never quite the same after an injury, but I had hoped otherwise.  

So, is it techinically the old injury that flares up or is it a weakness of the muscle/ligament that results in easy re-injuries?  And I suppose this means that warm-up stretching really is important, especially as we get older.      

Joanna