Tips for Getting Over a Muscle Tear
You’ve hurt yourself. You’re in pain and having trouble moving the injured area, whether it’s your neck, arm, leg, or another part of your body. Learn tips for faster recovery from a muscle tear.
As a sports enthusiast and athlete, you love the “highs” when playing a game and the fun in making a winning shot. However, along with highs come lows. One of them is sustaining a sports injury. You want to know how serious the injury is and how long you’ll have to stay on the sidelines.
Our board-certified orthopedic surgeon and regenerative medicine physician at Urgently Ortho in Scottsdale, Arizona, specialize in sports medicine and treat many athletes. We get you back in the game safely and as soon as possible. Our arsenal includes hyaluronic acid injections. Learn how this type of injection can make a difference in your recovery.
Your body produces hyaluronic acid naturally. It’s an ingredient in the synovial fluid in your joints and bones that helps you move your joints easily, without friction or pain. Synthetic hyaluronic acid injections are made to mirror the same molecular structure as the natural acid in your body.
Clinical evidence shows hyaluronic acid’s effectiveness for knee osteoarthritis. It also shows promise for tendonitis, especially tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), patellar (knee) tendonitis, and Achilles tendonitis.
Studies on hyaluronic acid for those types of tendonitis show that patients who received hyaluronic acid injections had significant pain relief, reduced tendon thickness, and minimal neovascularization (abnormal blood vessels). One study did indicate some limitations. More research is needed.
If you’ve sustained joint damage as an athlete, you may have some early-onset arthritis. Think of all of the force placed on your joints as you twisted, turned, jumped, ran, and moved over thousands of hours of play over the years. All of that force can produce premature wear and tear on your body.
Arthritis can also begin to develop after trauma (an accident) to a joint well before you might have normally developed it as part of the aging process. Aging causes thinning of the amount of hyaluronic acid in your joints. A hyaluronic acid injection resupplies your joints with this important fluid if you have early onset arthritis.
As an athlete, you’re also prone to tendonitis, especially in the elbow, knee, and heel. Tendons are slow to heal, as they’re not well vascularized. Hyaluronic acid injections can be very helpful in promoting faster healing.
If warranted by your type of injury and its severity, we can provide an injection into the painful area, releasing fresh synthetic hyaluronic acid that mimics the substance in your body to help heal your injury and relieve your pain. You may need more than one injection.
Studies show that hyaluronic acid has anti-inflammatory properties. It stimulates new cell development and fresh collagen. Its fluid performs critical lubrication to help the tendon slide back and forth during movement.
Call or message Urgently Ortho today for expert sports medicine care. Our goal is to get you back on the field safely.
