What are musculoskeletal injuries?
Musculoskeletal injuries can affect your bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and joints. Since the musculoskeletal system is responsible for your body’s structural support and movement, an injury to any part may seriously affect your ability to function.
Additionally, injuries that affect the musculoskeletal system frequently damage nerves and blood vessels. As a result, there is an association between musculoskeletal injuries with many medical conditions.
What are the most common causes and types of musculoskeletal injuries?
Falls are the most common cause of musculoskeletal injuries, followed by sports injuries, playground accidents, overuse injuries, and car accidents.
You can also develop musculoskeletal injuries from prolonged inactivity, poor posture, and lack of proper technique when you play sports or engage in repetitive work activities.
Of the different types of musculoskeletal injuries, sprains, strains, and fractures are the most common. People who enjoy athletic activities often have acute knee injuries (ACL and meniscal tears), sprained ankles, rotator cuff injuries, and tendon injuries.
What types of symptoms develop from musculoskeletal injuries?
No matter what body area a musculoskeletal injury affects, you experience symptoms such as:
- Pain
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Muscle weakness
- Joint instability
- Tingling or numbness
- Limited range of motion
- Inability to use the injured part
Sprains and fractures can both cause severe pain and swelling, making it important to have a medical evaluation to determine the type and extent of your injury.
How are musculoskeletal injuries treated?
Some injuries demand immediate surgery. For example, a complex fracture needs surgery to restore the bone alignment, and ruptured ligaments or a torn medial meniscus in your knee may need surgery to ensure optimal healing.
For other musculoskeletal injuries, it’s essential to give the injury time to heal without risk of making the problem worse. That is accomplished with immobilization and modifying your activities.
As your injury heals, the next step is rehabilitation and managing your pain. That’s where the team at The Rehab Doctors can help. They have years of experience and extensive skills at creating customized rehabilitation plans, incorporating physical therapy and functional training that meet your goals.
When ongoing pain limits your ability to move and participate in your rehabilitation, you may be a good candidate for a non-surgical interventional treatment that targets the source of your pain, such as:
- Steroid injections
- Epidural injections
- Nerve blocks
- Radiofrequency lesioning
- Muscle injections
- Joint injections
- Tendon sheath injections
When you need help recovering from a musculoskeletal injury, schedule an appointment online, or call The Rehab Doctors.
