January 24, Do your quads feel sore after a long or fast run? The elastic structures of your body — connective tissue and even bone — actually play a large role in propulsion, storing energy when you land and releasing it again to move you forward. Sore quads indicate that the quads are having to work very hard to keep you from sitting on the ground, just like when you feel your quads working in a squat.
All this happening tends to stress the plantar fascia, knees, and low back and can cause pain as you struggle to handle it.
Delayed onset muscle soreness DOMS comes as a result of stress build up in the quads. Yoga is a good relaxer as you work the affected muscles in different poses. The yoga should not be intense. Weak glutes are a causative factor for sore quads after running. The logic behind this is that glutes produce more power and stability when running.
Massaging the affected sore quads after running effectively reduces the soreness. It also increases the blood flow as well as oxygen circulation in the muscles. Massaging helps reduce pressure and tension in the muscles, which makes them loose, and the stiffness is gone instantly. When the body is hydrated, water moves to different parts of the body and eliminates toxins that buildup during the muscle repair process.
When you engage your body in an intense workout, it requires time to shed off the pressure and keeping the muscles healthy. It is possible to keep off the stinging pain from sore quads with easy home remedies after running. All you need is a little bit of knowledge on how to handle the situation without staying off the tracks for a lifetime.
Moderation is also key when you embark on a hard run. When all these tips are put into place, you will come off the soreness faster than you even got them. Remember Me Login. By Pharis K. In Wellness. There is no swelling in the leg but there is pain. Hi Radha, good question. If it hurts to kick the ball then you need a few more weeks recovery. I would think weeks then wear the ACE wrap and slowly taper into activities. In the mean time work through the suggestions in the post working on mobility and strength of the quadriceps.
As a result, I often rely on my right leg more due to pain in the left leg. Last weekend, while at a wedding and dancing, I was relying on my healthy right leg a little too much and felt a strain in the right quad.
However, this morning, while walking the dog, I felt a pull in my left quad muscle near the knee and further up the quad. Hi Tim, good question.
Yes it can be common to experience pain in other areas either opposite side or just a different muscle group on the same side. This typically occurs due to compensation trying to avoid the injured area, you change how you typically move and the normal alignment of the body and end of straining something else.
The most common example of this is hurting a knee or hip causing a person to limp which then leads to low back pain. So for now I would treat both quads and slow down your movements to help normalize any movement patterns while you recover.
Hi Ben, i was doing some soccer training and felt a sharp pain in my vastus medialis. It sounds like you may have suffered a significant muscle tear. If you do not have access to care then I would start a very slow but steady range of motion and strengthening program. If the pain worsens then you will definitely need additional assistance. If you can go slow and slowly improve your strength and the thigh starts to gain in muscle bulk you will know you are headed in the right direction. I hope this helps.
George, There are exercises listed in the article. Please refer to the Strengthening and Rehabilitation Exercises for the Quadriceps.
Hey Ben, I am a 65 year old runner and run about 40 miles a week. For the last two months I have had pain in my right quad on the inside of the leg above the knee. It gets really bad if I drive all day in a car between braking and hitting the gas. There is no noticible swelling bruising or anything. Any ideas? Should I tape it, Lay off, and can I possibly ride a bike if I lay off. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Larry Stone. HI Larry, Thanks for the question. Its difficult to say just based off that description. If the pain is closer to the knee joint then it is possible that the quad pain is referred from the knee itself.
For now I would taper back the running and yes biking can be a good alternative as it provides needed range of motion. Thinking of it more like range of motion and improving circulation, not trying to get an intense work out. Give it a week or two then re-evaluate. Also slowly work through the suggestions here or check out my web site or the MTA site and look at Meniscus injury. It might have some helpful advise for you. For the past four weeks my quadricep has been strained including a knot that runs through my mid quad.
I took the last week and half off from doing no kicking, went to a physical therapist for treatment which included building up a tolerance level strengthening , stretching, stem, massage, using foam roller, etc. The only thing that I improved was lessening the size of the knot in my leg. Unfortunately it was still there but very minimal. I guess my question for you is, why do you think the knot it my quad is still there and not going away?
Any suggestions would help. Yes, I think you are correct. Likely a partial tear which is leading to the knotting. Kicking too soon will just re-aggravate the injury. The fibers that are growing and repairing are fragile and need time to heal.
The muscle simply knots up as a self protection mechanism. So even as the knot shrinks you need to be careful. It may be closer to weeks depending on the severity. I would take at least 2 weeks and continue with the PT, then if pain is improving go really slow in your progression of strength training for at least 4 weeks then start kicking, but you will have to slowly progress up to full speed. IF you try to push it too fast you are likely just going to re-injure.
What did your PT say? They think I should go get an MRI soon…I was able to get some acupuncture done and the specialist thinks that I have a hematoma.
Definitely keep working on strength and be sure to slowly taper back into kicking once the pain and strength has returned. Quickly too hard to quickly can cause re-injury due to the amount of force involved when kicking. Best of luck!!!! I strained a quad last week training for a trail race. Doing sprints after a half mile jog. Ran 2 gentle miles after that to see how bad it was.
Thankfully it was not too painful after but definitely not right. My race is Sunday and I am nervous because I have not run on it all week. Weight bearing on stairs brings it to my attention but only at a mildly annoying level.
Hoping to survive the hills and finish my race without further injury. Sorry to hear about your injury. You mention that you can feel the strain when going up stairs. That is a sign that the tissue is definitely still injured. You may consider wearing a compression sleeve to offer support and to keep the area warm.
If the weather conditions are cool you will need to take extra caution. In situations like this the rate of re-injury is high, especially if there are hills in the race. Best of luck!!! The injury was more painful on the ribs throughout these weeks, but after three weeks I started to be worried sick about my knee.
Next week I will make ultra sound examination, because the doctor believes I might have torn the muscle. I can walk now, my other muscles seems to be working, but when I try to bend my leg, the knee area becomes super stiff and a small bump appears near the patella on the inner side as I try and bend it more, so I have to extend my leg quickly because it feels as if that bump will pop out from the skin.
It sounds like you must have taken a very hard fall. From your description it does sound like there could be a significant injury. Based off the information you have provided I would also suspect a possible vastus medialis tear or possibly a fracture of the patella.
Either way additional medical follow up should be taken. If things were going to improve on their own I would suspect 4 weeks to be long enough. I encourage you to get the follow up so you will have adequate information to know how to progress in your rehabilitation. I am here to update about my knee injury.
So I went for ultra sound yesterday and according to the doctors who conducted the ultra sound I have a few tears in my vastus intermedius muscle, seemed like the tears are in the muscle belly, not the tendon itself. And the bump on the knee, they believe, is a muscle and it pops out near the patella when I try to extend the knee. Now I have to wait for appointment with my traumatologist-orthopaedic on December 20th next Thursday where he will inform me on possible treatment options.
Do you have any suggestions in the mean time? I also put some muscle pain relief gel, if the muscles get warm I put some ice for a few minutes. Have you ever heard of a vastus intermedius tear? You are correct that this is a more unusual type of injury. The vastus intermedius is deeper into the leg. In most cases the typical treatment is conservative physical therapy treatment.
Depending on the severity of the tears it may take many months to fully recover. I would suspect not surgery and conservative management. Once you start physical therapy and can have a proper evaluation then more specific advice can be given.
Best of Luck!! As a firefighter I suffer injuries from time to time but I strained my quads less than 72 hours ago and I need to recover quickly but I know rest is what I need but any quick fixes? Hi Aaron, That is a tough one. It really depends on the severity of the strain. If it is a Grade I or small Grade II strain you could alternate ice and heat to promote increased blood flow and use a compression wrap to keep the area supported. If you getting a lot of sharp pain be very cautious.
If it is just a dull ache you may get away with a little more activity. But always use common sense. Best of Luck! Hoping to survive the hills and finish my race without further injury Thanks.
I am marathon training for a race in May May 11th and I think I strained my quad or hip flexor squatting a 45 bar without warming up. There was a sudden pain like a cramp in my right leg on the outside of my quad by the hip. Air squatting and stretching feel okay but hurt after. It looks like I need to rest the muscle for at least a week or two, is there anything I can do to keep up cardio conditioning?
Is it still reasonable to expect to run a marathon in 3 months time and if so how would you recommend ramping up the running once I am no longer in pain? It does sound like you may have strained the quad.
Take time to rest and work on maintaining the range of motion in the leg. Focus on getting the leg healthy. Once you can start to jog without pain just tapper back into the running plan. In the mean time work on your core strengthening and other cross training that does not cause too much soreness. I waited about 10 days from the original injury when I could walk briskly without pain and after a mile warm up I lightly jogged a mile without pain.
I rested the next day and then warmed up and tried for two miles. There was no warning other than the usual symmetrical burn from running. I iced it last night and it still feels tender and sore on the front of my leg and back by the hip. Is It possible that I worsened the injury even though I stopped when it hurt or should I be back to normal once it quiets down? I am uncertain if this is normal or if it means I am attempting too much too soon. Should i go back to resting and light walking for another week or longer?
Based off the information provided it does sound like you re-strained the injury. It depends on the severity but with you re-straining after approximately 2 weeks I would suspect a grade 2 tear. Now grade 2 tears can vary wildly on severity but I would be very cautious with an early return to running. At this point I would target at least 4 weeks of rehab and no running and it maybe up to 8 weeks depending on how it is feeling.
Then it has to be a very slow and gradual return to running. But first you have to have full range of motion and pain free use of the leg with squatting and the rehab exercises. Just to confirm that I understand the timeline is it best to wait 4 weeks from today before I try running again or did you mean from the initial injury?
I feel much better after a day of total rest and the quad is no longer tender and walking is pain free. However, my hips are tender and lower back is sore on both sides, is is possible that I strained that too or is it common to experience tightness due to compensation?
Do you think hip focused yoga would be okay if I avoided painful stretching or should I stick to the rolling mentioned in the article? I will stick to walking and swimming for now, would the elliptical or biking also be good options or do you think that would be too straining? It is tough to give specific advice without a thorough evaluation. In general you need to be pain free for several days before you return to running.
Especially since it re-strained so easily the first time. The additional muscle soreness is common. During this time try to address any pre-existing issues that may be contributing factors to your injury. I would not over stretch the injury site but I would want to see full range of motion prior to your return to running.
I would suggest at least a 2 week break before you taper back into running. In the mean time continue with the rehab including swimming. You could try the elliptical but I would be hesitant about yoga for the short term. The timing is only loose guidelines based on how you feel. But it is always better to taper back into things slowly and not rush. Best of luck. Hi Ben. I was performing forward lunges in my body pump class when I felt a loud pop at the top front of thigh.
As it was near the end of the class I finished off and everything was fine. Did exactly the same thing this week. Loud pop, same place, near end of class. Went home and put ice on. Big red mark where the pop happened and slight swelling. Warm thigh and slight pulling when I walk but no restriction in movement and not really any pain.
I thought a loud pop meant it was a grade 3 tear but I have none of the symptoms of this. Hi Chris, There are lots of reasons to feel or hear a popping sound. If you are feeling this at the the top of thigh I am assuming you are meaning hear the front of the hip or hip flexor area. In this area you can get popping from the tendon as it slides over the bone, or even popping from inside the hip from a small labral tear. If a true Grade 2 or 3 muscle tear has occurred you are likely to not only see swelling but likely bruising and I would suspect there would be loss of motion and pain when using the muscle.
Great article I appreciate your help. I just had the same thing happen today doing walking lunges. What side of the bone should the hip flexor be on the outside or the inside? Thanks in advance. Hi Robert, with a hip flexor strain the pain is most typically in the middle or towards the inner thigh.
You may also have some discomfort deep into the lower abdominal area. I felt something similar today… It was high in front and felt like it moved from center of thigh laterally to the outside. Loud snap I could feel inside. No swelling minimal pain infrequently. Have you found out anything else? Hi Robert.
Snapping and popping in the front of the thigh is very common and often nothing to worry about. A true hip flexor strain will typically be quite painful and will tend to be very tight in the area of injury if you sit for long periods of time.
There is rarely significant swelling in this area. Hope that answers your questions. Hi, Ben. Great article. I felt a pop in the mid-quad area, I was able to finish the push-jerk though. The immediate feeling of pain was minimal, maybe 5 out of I continued with the workout which included 6 strict pull-ups, 10 dumbbell snatches, 13 sit-ups for 5 rounds.
Ive also been applying pressure when ice isnt applied. Icing has been on for min every hour. The vastus medialis area is sore, no apparent bulge but there is swelling. It does hurt on the interior side when I try to squat body weight. Any recommendations on a quicker recovery?
I was planning on taking it easy no lower body workouts for the next weeks. You need to keep the range of motion in the leg but do not be too aggressive with stretching. It has to be a balance of motion and not too much pain. For the first week or two no aggressive foam rolling but you can definitely massage and foam roll above and below the injury. Continue with icing and compression for at least the first week. Your first goal should be able to perform a partial body weight squat no pain.
Then progress to a bicycle with low resistance for the range of motion and to promote blood flow. Be very gentle as you test your limits. If you push too hard too fast it will re-injure and prolong the recovery. Once you can body weight squat full squat then slowly start loading the bar.
Depending on the severity this may take weeks. If there is any pain with slow movements then definitely avoid quick motions. Typically its a quick motion that will cause a re-injury. I felt a pull on my quad on Wednesday night playing football soccer felt perfectly fine after words and never thought anything of it, until Monday night back at football and I felt a much worse pull on the same quad, and it now feels very right and painful, could I have done a lot more damage to myself?
Sounds like you had an initial mild strain and likely now re-strained the area but possibly worse. I would anticipate several weeks at least for a recovery and follow the advice in the article. If you push it again it could lead to an even worse injury….. Hi Ben Shatto, Strains can range from a mild discomfort to a full blown tear of most of the muscle which can result in severe pain and the inability to run or walk.
One exercise is a straight leg raise with a 1 kilo weight strap on my ankle. I reckon this is what has caused the pain in my right thigh that occurs after walking about 20 meters and forces me to stop. From studying your posts above, I reckon it is the overuse that has caused this. Two questions: 1. How long would I need to recover from this?
How often should I do muscle strengthening exercises? Thanks for the compliment. From your description the injury is likely overuse in nature. Because of the nature of the injury there is likely not a lot of muscle fiber disruption but more likely an inflammatory process that is causing more of the pain. I would suspect weeks on the short side up to weeks on the long side for recovery. This of course assumes that the exercise was the actual source of the pain and there are not other complicating factors.
True strengthening exercises do not need to be done more than times a week. Though it is critical to engage in some form of activity daily. And daily range of motion is critical for arthritic joints. Hi ben, i had a mid thigh muscle strain 3 years ago while sprinting.
Not entirely sure of your question but it does sound like you may have injured your quad. If it is still bothering you after 3 years it is likely due to a lack of adequate rehabilitation. I would recommend a slow and steady approach to strengthen and mobilize the area, while loosing weight to take strain off the lower extremities.
I was doing spin cycling at the gym about one month back and felt a mild pain near the hip specially when im lifting my leg. I saw a doctor later and he told it was a quad strain. I had been resting for a week after, while keeping ice twice a day. Then i started brisk walking and got the pain back again while lifting my leg i can walk without an issue.
Does this mean i have re-injured my quad? How long should i rest and how do i know its fully healed? Hi Mani, Most likely this means the injury has not fully healed and though you are now able to do low level activities the muscle is not yet ready to handle activities that require more load or speed.
I would keep with the incing and follow the exercises noted. Every week slowly test your limits to see how you are progressing.
But be careful to not over do or you do risk re-injury. My son injured his hip playing soccer back in February. After the initial injury, he tried to play through for a few weeks but eventually the pain was too great, so he rested for a few weeks.
He tried to slowly resume activity but he was still really uncomfortable with any hip movement, running, squatting, etc. Six weeks of physical therapy, and my son felt better and stronger, got the OK to return to sports in August, almost exactly one month ago. But his hip soon became irritated again, even with frequent icing, wrapping, and lots of stretching — and irritation has turned to pain, and now he is saying the pain is pretty acute. Hi Ruta, Tough questions to answer without actually seeing him, but given how active he is and what activities cause pain I would suspect a possible hip labral tear.
Though this would be a guess again without an exam. But it would be top of my list to rule in or out. He definitely needs to be seen by an orthopedist. After a night of dancing and jumping, felt dull knee pain accompanied with popping sound on knee extension which stopped me from my sports routine. Knee pain when knees pushed together around the VMO and under the kneecap when lunging.
Hi Uriel, Yes a pulled quad can definitely cause knee pain. I would suspect an additional cause of the injury. If the knee is slowly improving I would continue with your slow and steady rehab protocol. Most knee injuries can be rehabilitated if appropriate time is given. As pain allows and if you have full pain free range of motion you may consider a slow progression of strengthening and balance exercises. If the knee is worsening or not improving you should consider seeking further medical advice.
I strained it while kicking a soccer ball back in the beginning of august. Since then the quad started to heal normally, being able to run and exercise with legs. The quad feels healthy and everything, expect when Im trying to play soccer again. Though it has been 3 months in cases of severe injury that is not very long. I realize you are doing a lot of activity now, but force ably kicking a ball involves eccentrically lengthening the quad very quickly then exerting a very quick and powerful twitch kick.
This motion puts a lot of strain on the quad, likely more than running or jumping or lifting weights. Mostly likely more time will be needed to fully heal.
It is not uncommon for severe injuries to take months for a full recovery. One other option maybe an issue with the pelvis. You could have a pelvic rotation or torsion that would place the quad in a poor resting position and predispose it to pain.
You may also need to follow up with a hands on specialist that can double check there is no issues going on with your pelvis. Hang in there. You will feel better eventually. It is just a slow road sometimes. All the best. Thankfully the quad is feeling normal without any pain expect when playing soccer. That was my biggest concern, could I ever even kick a ball normally. James happy to help. Yes I would give it a little more time and continue to train and strengthen the area.
Revisit kicking every few weeks to see how it is going. I run six days a week. I strained my left quad five days ago and been resting since.
Do you recommend starting with the elliptical or stationary bike before I get back into running in two weeks? My pelvis seemed to be in some position which was affecting my quad. Now I just need to go kick a ball some day to see, if the appointment worked.
If not, I was recommended to go there once again. Sounds like you may have a significant quad strain. If there was a significant tear that occurred it could take weeks or longer for a recovery.
Take it slow and do your best to keep the leg motion normal and the spasms at a minimum. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Hi Ben, I strained my thigh playing pickleball. It hurt for a could of days I did take care and ice. By the 3rd day I had no pain walking or moving. So I went back to pickleball I know, too soon and did it again, this time very mildly.
Here is my question — would swimming be ok? Hi Dee, sorry to hear about your injury. I would first get back to a pain free situation with all regular activities. Then do a trial of maybe just walking in the water forward, backward and sideways. Give it a day and see how it feels. Thanks so much Ben. I downloaded your strengthening and rehabbing the quads pdf. The walking in the pool is a great idea. The funny thing is I was completely pain free before even when walking very quickly but it was almost immediately when I started playing again that I pulled it again.
I think I will need to be more intentional about getting better! Have a great day. Sounds like a good plan to me. Just remember to taper back into activity slowly and really be warmed up prior to any vigorous activity.
I would consider at least a minute thorough warm up cycle. The marathon race had some easy to moderate hills, so near the end of the race, this area above the knee hurt so bad I thought it was completely broken the pain was so bad. I could walk with zero pain, but trying to run, it was instant pain too unbearable to run.
I have tried so many modalities to address, from core strengthening, to yoga poses, to consistent stretching dynamic and status , chiro including active release technique , pilates, massage, etc. No matter how much time I take off and let it heal, as soon as enough hills are involved, even at slow pace running, bam, it returns. In almost all cases there is some kind of biomechanical issue that is causing the problem. It sounds as though you have seem many different practitioners and tried many things.
In a case like this I would suggest a change in running mechanics. Potentially try the Chi running technique or something equivalent. Changing your running technique will alter the biomechanical forces on the vastus lateralus and hopefully allow you to run with less pain. The decrease in muscle mass is likely a neurological response to the pain in the knee. This is a very common phenomenon.
There does not need to be swelling or bruising present for this to occur. Only pain. If the pain in the knee cap persists then a brace such as the NuNee maybe beneficial during the rehabilitation phase and possibly ongoing. Hello, I was playing football the other day and felt a twinge in my upper thigh. I limped for a couple of minutes and then the pain almost fully went away, its back now about 72 hours later.
Do you reckon i should stop playing football? And how long until full recovery? Hi Morgan, Sounds like a mild quad strain. I would follow the recommendations in the article and not return to sport until you can run full speed, accelerate and decelerate at full speed without pain.
In mild cases that maybe weeks. Though age, degree of injury and fitness level may affect those time frames. I had pulled my quadricep muscle one week ago and it has healed good and I have regained all range of motion. I assume it was a low grade strain but I noticed when pulling it I had some mild spasms. One week later I feel good but now when I workout I feel almost like a muscle spasm in the lower quadricep muscle above my knee.
Any idea what this is? Hi John, Most likely the muscle is not completely healed. This will insure a complete recovery. If it is still spasming you are likely at an elevated re-injury risk. I have had the injury for weeks.
I also get a mild pain at the end range of motion when performing quad stretches and get aches when standing around for a long time and also when performing low level stationary biking that my physio wants me to do.
Hi Joe, The goal for rehab needs to be to restore full range of motion and strength. Initially the bike is good to promote bloodflow and circulation and possibly range of motion. However, you will need to progress into strengthening exercises. You may ask your physio to line out a game plan for the next several weeks so you have an idea of their progression for you.
Hi Joe, Honestly in my option massage in the location described is often painful…. So pain with massage is not an indication of injury for me. Your other symptoms of pain with end range stretching and pain when standing or using a stationary bike are better indicators of an ongoing injury. I would use those indicators to judge progress. You can always massage hard enough to cause pain so that typically is not a reliable indicator.
Hello Ben, I have injured my quad a good 5 weeks ago whilst playing sport , my quad was too sore for me to continue to play.
0コメント