SOFT TISSUE INJURIES

When an Injury Occurs

It is microscopic tearing of the tissue that results in blood being led out into the tendon or muscle. This can cause excruciating and sometimes permanent pain and problems

Acute Soft Tissue Injuries

Soft and Hard Tissue Injuries

Soft tissue injuries may be sudden (acute) or get worse gradually (chronic). They can take between two and 12 weeks to heal. Acute injuries occur from a known or sometimes unknown incident. Signs and symptoms develop rapidly. The three most common acute injuries are:

• Bruises

• Sprains

• Strains

Muscle

Soft Tissue

Soft and hard tissue injuries are different suggested by the name. Soft tissue injuries is damage any biological tissues. It is easy to define a soft tissue injury as damage to any of the tissues in the body except bone tissues. Soft tissue injuries occur when damage to muscles, tendons and ligaments. Hard tissue injuries involve damage to bone tissue. A hard tissue injury is also called a fracture. There are several types of hard tissue injuries, some concern bones that have been completely broken/separated into two pieces e.g. simple fractures, while other concern damage to bone tissue, which are less severe than a complete clean break but can be still painful e.g. hairline fractures.

Damage can be direct and indirect

Damage to muscle occurs when demand of muscle is greater than the strength of the muscle.

Damage can also occur when trauma is inflicted on the muscle. E.g. a football player getting there leg corked in a tackle. The three grades are:

1: Strain small number of muscle fibres damaged

2: Partial, 50% of muscle fibre is torn

3: Complete rupture, the muscle is completely torn

Soft tissue is the name for all the supporting tissues in the body, apart from the bones. They include fat, muscle, nerves, deep skin tissue, blood vessels and the tissue that surrounds joints (synovial tissue). These tissues support and connect all the organs and structures of the body.

What is a soft tissue injury?

Three Classifications of Injuries

Tendon

A Soft tissue injury (STI) is the damage of muscles, ligaments and tendons throughout the body. Common soft tissue injuries usually occur from a sprain, strain, a one off blow resulting in a contusion or overuse of a particular part of the body.

The video in the next slide shows a pulled hamstring which develops fast.

Tendon Injuries occur because of overuse of the tendon, People who make the same motions in sport or in their job have a higher possibility of damage.

3 Grades

1. Primary= swelling in tendon, tendonitis

2. Secondary= Partial tear of tendon causing pain and weakness

3. Tertiary = complete rupture of tendon, little pain but no function of the tendon.

Ligament

Ligaments are damaged due to an external force EG. The three grades are:

1. Strain of ligaments. Inflammation and swelling in area of injury

2. Partial tear of ligaments. More pain and swelling.

3. Complete tear. Whole of ligament torn. Less pain but significant amount of swelling and complete loss of function.

Three Main Types

The three main types of soft tissue are:

• Muscle – muscles are made up of fibres that shorten and lengthen to produce movement of a joint. Muscles are attached to bone by tendons.

• Tendon – tendons are tough bone of slightly elastic connective tissue that connect muscle to bone.

• Ligament – ligaments are strong bands of inelastic connective tissue that connect bone to bone.

SOFT TISSUE INJURIES