Things You'll Need:
- Physician care
- Home care
- Help during your recovery
- Hot and cold packs
- Comfortable pillows
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Step 1
If you receive a chest injury, you must first rule out more serious injuries, such as a broken rib, fractured sternum, or problem with the muscles surrounding your heart. If the injury affected your heart or heart muscles, the first part of treatment would be stabilizing the heart to keep your blood pressure from falling to dangerous levels.
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Step 2
Have an X-ray taken of your chest to rule out a more serious injury. Go to the hospital or to an outpatient facility that has diagnostic imaging services.
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Step 3
Have a physician diagnose what is wrong with you, by reading the results of the X-ray and by examining you and asking questions about your symptoms.
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Step 4
If you were playing sports and you pulled a muscle too far by moving or stretching too much in a certain direction, you might have a strained muscle. A strained muscle could also occur if you suddenly jerked a muscle during an activity. An auto accident could land you with a strained chest muscle too. During the collision, the seatbelt restraint can pull you back, causing the muscles to become strained. You may also receive a broken rib or fractured sternum from the seatbelt or by hitting the steering wheel, especially if the front airbag doesn't deploy.
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Step 5
Muscle strains occur when the muscle gets stretched beyond its limit. The muscle fibers are torn, usually where the muscle joins the tendon. You may hear a popping sound or a snapping of the muscle. The pain is often severe immediately, and frequently the area will bruise. Swelling generally is found in the injured area, although the chest may swell less than an area like the thigh or ankle.
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Step 6
The physician will not wrap or cast strained chest muscles, or a fractured sternum or broken rib, for that matter. It is important for you to be able to breathe normally to be able to recover properly. There is also risk of a respiratory illness such as pneumonia when your breathing is restricted to small breaths.
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Step 1
If you are diagnosed with strained chest muscles, the first step in recovery is to immediately stop using the muscles any more than absolutely necessary. Stop lifting things, stop playing sports and stop doing whatever activity caused the injury.
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Step 2
Take any medication prescribed. You will be given instructions to take ibuprofen, most likely three times per day in the 800 mg strength, decreasing to 400 mg after the pain begins to subside. Often in the cases of severe pain, you will also be given a narcotic pain reliever such as Percocet or Darvocet. Take as necessary for the pain.
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Step 3
Use an ice pack initially on the injured chest area for the first three days. The ice pack should not be placed directly on the skin, so have some protective barrier like a thin towel. The ice will help with swelling in the chest. You may wish to continue the ice pack past the three days if the swelling persists.
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Step 4
Try hot packs after the first three days or once the swelling subsides. These usually soothe the muscles and help provide further relief. Some people find that the heat is more irritable to the area. If so, discontinue use and consider continuing with brief use of the ice packs or nothing.
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Step 5
Get plenty of bed rest. For your body to be able to recover from any injury, you need rest. It is hard for the body to recover when you are still maintaining your daily activities that take up your energy.
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Step 6
Get proper bed rest. If you have strained chest muscles, most positions you sit or lie in will cause pain. The best position for strained chest muscles is generally lying in a partially sitting position with two or three pillows behind your back. The best type of pillows are down pillows that also offer some support to your back. A floppy pillow will cause your chest muscles to have to be used to support you.
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Step 7
Limit your activities during the resting process. You don't want to re-injure the area. Make sure not to lift anything more than a pound or two at first, and don't stretch the chest muscles too far. Stick to easy activities such as simple walking and sitting. Even activities that seem like they won't affect the area, may. For instance, imagine driving a car and suddenly having to swerve to avoid a deer or another car and pulling the muscles abruptly that are strained.
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Step 8
Start stretching out the area after you've rested for a few days. Too much stretching can make things worst, so start with simple stretches and don't do many repetitions.
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Step 9
Gradually add normal everyday activities back into your routine. Continue to stretch out every day, working in weight-bearing exercises lightly. You want to make sure you have completely healed before getting back into heavier weightlifting or the sporting activities that caused the injury. The area is now more sensitive to injury, so always stretch out well and be careful when you do get to the point where you engage in sporting and other physical activities again.
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Step 10
Physical therapy may be recommended to help aid in your recovery. A physical therapist can help show you what exercises to do to help your recovery. You might receive TENS therapy, where electrotherapy helps reduce swelling and relax the muscles. Ultrasound could be used as well to promote blood flow to the area and relax muscles to help speed healing.
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Step 11
Make sure to continue care with your physician. Follow up care can be essential to make sure the area is healing and that you aren't doing anything to make the strained chest muscles worse.
