A soft tissue injury is a result of trauma to muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and at our St. Petersburg chiropractic care center, it’s an injury we treat every day several times a day. Keep reading to learn more…

Common Soft Tissue Injuries

While most soft tissue injuries are the result of a car accident or sports injury, they can also occur from normal daily activity, i.e., an unexpected or uncontrolled movement such as stepping off a curb and rolling over an ankle. Excessive overuse of chronically fatigued structures, such as muscles and tendons, can also lead to a soft tissue injury. Some of the more common soft tissue injuries include:

  • Ankle sprain
  • Back strain
  • Calf strain
  • Golfers/ Tennis elbow
  • Hamstring strain

Patients with soft tissue injuries often experience sharp pain, swelling, bruising, damage, weakness, loss of sensation, and limited movement and function of the affected area.

Musculoskeletal Structures Affected by Soft Tissue Injury 

Muscles

Want to know why muscles can account for over 40% of your body weight? Because there are over 600 muscles in your body working hard to keep you moving! Skeletal muscle helps the body with the following:

  • Contract and cause movement.
  • Stop movement, i.e., resisting gravity to maintain posture.
  • Help the body stay upright and balanced.
  • Prevents skeletal structure damage or deformation.
  • Keeps joints stable and prevents them from becoming misaligned or dislocated.

Muscles are attached to the skeletal system by a complex interface of tendons. An example of a soft tissue injury to this part of the body is a torn and/or over-stretched muscle or tendon, also known as a strain.

Tendons

Tendons are strong, fibrous connective tissues that connect your muscles to the skeletal system. They are responsible for transmitting the mechanical force during muscle contractions to the bone and create elastic force when stretched. The most common tendon affected by soft tissue injury is the Achilles.

Ligaments

Ligaments are fibrous, connective tissues that connect bones and protect the joints. While they have some elasticity, ligaments can no longer return to their original shape once stretched past a certain point. In addition, when a joint has prolonged instability, degenerative changes can occur and lead to soft tissue injury. A sprain is a stretched or torn ligament, and the most commonly torn ligament is the ACL.

Fascia

Fascia is found under the skin and is a type of connective tissue that attaches to and surrounds muscles and other internal organs. It is extremely strong, can resist tension forces during movement, and has a rich supply of sensory receptors. Scientific research has found that fascia plays a huge role in transmitting elastic energy and reducing muscular friction – both of which are clinically important should the fascia become too stiff or not stiff enough or if it decreases the ability of muscles to glide against each other.

Nerves

Nerves are enclosed bundles of fibers that transmit electrical signals and impulses throughout the body. There are several types of nerves, but the type of nerve that supplies information to the brain from another part of the body OR controls an action of the body is said to “innervate” that body part. Nerves can be damaged by physical injury or from a condition such as carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive strain injury. A pinched nerve occurs when pressure is placed on a nerve (most often from swelling caused by injury) and can result in pain, weakness, numbing, or in worse case scenarios, paralysis. Individuals with nerve damage can experience “referred pain” – pain that is felt far from the affected area. At Burghealth Chiropractic & Wellness, we diagnose nerve disorders with a physical exam that includes reflexes, directed movements such as walking, muscle weakness, proprioception, and the sense of touch.

Treating Soft Tissue Injuries at Burghealth 

At Burghealth, Dr. Samuel Richards has received extensive training in the treatment of soft tissue injuries. Two techniques he commonly uses include:

Active Release Technique (ART)  

Active release technique (ART) is a patented, movement-based massage technique that treats problem areas of the musculoskeletal system. At every ART session, Dr. Samuel Richards evaluates the texture, tightness, and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, and nerves, and he treats abnormal tissues with a combination of precisely directed tension and very specific patient movements.

Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) 

Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) uses specially designed instruments to mobilize scar tissue and myofascial adhesions. Studies show that IASTM is an effective treatment for increasing strength, improving range of motion, and reducing pain perception.  

Burghealth Chiropractic & Wellness - St. Petersburg’s Top Chiropractor 

Tired of living in pain caused by a soft tissue injury? Burghealth Chiropractic & Wellness can help! Please call (727) 289-9148 to learn more about our soft tissue injury treatments or to schedule a consultation with one of our top St. Pete chiropractors.

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Monday
8:30 am - 12:00 pm 1:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Tuesday
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Wednesday
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