Muscle Contusion (Corky) | Plenty Physiotherapy, Bundoora

Muscle Contusion (Corky) Document 

A muscle contusion is a soft tissue injury caused by a direct blow or trauma to a  muscle, resulting in bleeding and bruising within the muscle fibres. This leads to pain,  swelling, decreased range of motion,  and sometimes weakness. Commonly seen in contact sports like AFL, rugby, basketball, and soccer,  especially in muscles such as: • Quadriceps (most common) • Hamstrings • Gluteals • Biceps or triceps (in upper limb  contact) Treatment/Management: 1) Ice: Utilising ice to the injured region for 15-20 minutes every 2-3 hours  particularly during the initial 48-72 hours after the injury. This will help reduce  pain, swelling and excessive inflammatory processes.  2) Rest/Load management: Acutely enabling the injured body part to rest and not  exacerbate further potential injury. In this phase doing tolerable movements is  important.  3) Compression: Using compression bandages or braces to wrap around the  injured area. This should be at a tolerable gentle compression pressure. This will  help with providing stability and support to the injured tissue as well as reduce  swelling. 4) Elevation: Have the injured body part elevated above heart level to assist with reducing excessive swelling.  5) Manual therapy and Mobility/stretching: Manual therapy can be helpful to  improve tissue healing, pain management and help improve mobility of the  tissue as stiffness and tightness can be significant symptoms. This should be  started 48-72 hours after the injury. Early exercise (e.g. cycling and swimming  within pain tolerance) and progressing to higher load strength and stretching  exercises within tolerance will increase the speed of recovery and function.