What is Muscle Sprain?

A Sprain is a tear/ elongation of individual muscle fibres & collectively only a part of a muscle is torn & there is no complete tear

When does a muscle sprain occur?

Like any other injury whenever the muscle is stretched or loaded beyond capacity the fibres start tearing off. So any exercise which is beyond the lifting capacity of that muscle will lead to a muscle sprain.

Another cause of a muscle sprain is a lack of appropriate warm-up/stretching before the exercise due to the sudden load the muscles are subjected to during the exercise

Are there any specific injuries which are common due to certain exercises?

Shoulder exercises if done without proper stretching lead to tightness of the shoulder followed by pain & impingement. Shin splints are very common in runners who start vigorous running without acclimatizing. Lower back pain & injuries are common if exercises like deadlift are not done properly. In short, any body part can get injured if the exercise form is incorrect or there is a lack of proper warm-up of the part before exercising.

If I have sustained an injury what is the next course of action?

Most sprains heal within 3-4 weeks time depending upon the degree of their severity. Immediately after the injury best home remedy is to apply an ice pack to reduce the swelling & pain. Less intense injuries should heal well with this therapy alone but if pain & soreness persists beyond 1 day it is better to get it evaluated by an Orthopaedic surgeon

When can I resume training after an injury?

As discussed earlier Grade 1 / 2 sprains heal well light training of the sprained part can be started as early as 10- 14 days depending upon the residual pain. Once restarted the exercise progression needs to be gradual to allow the muscle to reach pre-injury strength & to prevent re-injury due precautions need to be taken with regards to before exercise warm up, while exercising (avoid overload) & exercise stretching.