Strain Versus Sprain:
What is the Difference?
A strain is defined as a stretched or injured tendon. A sprain, on the other hand, is a stretched or injured ligament. A tendon attaches a muscle to the bone, whereas a ligament attaches bone to bone. Ligament and tendon injuries often do not heal because these structures have very poor blood supplies. Perhaps even more importantly, their healing is slowed or even stopped by - you guessed it - NSAIDs, cortisone shots, and more importantly, the R.I.C.E. treatment. Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation inhibit healing, whereas the M.E.A.T. protocol, consisting of Movement, Exercise, natural Analgesics (proteolytic enzymes), and specific Treatments like Prolotherapy, stimulates healing. (See Figure 2.)
| R.I.C.E.
versus M.E.A.T. |
| |
R.I.C.E. |
M.E.A.T. |
| Immune System
Response |
Decreased |
Increased |
| Blood Flow
to Injured Area |
Decreased |
Increased |
| Collagen
Formation |
Hindered |
Encouraged |
| Range of
Motion of Joint |
Decreased |
Increased |
| Complete
Healing |
Decreased |
Increased |
| Speed
of Recovery |
Delayed
(Lengthened) |
Hastened
(Shortened) |
| Figure 2: The RICE protocol hampers soft tissue healing whereas
MEAT encourages healing. |
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary has Prolotherapy defined as “the rehabilitation of an incompetent structure, such as a ligament or tendon, by the induced proliferation of new cells.” Prolotherapy involves the injection of substances at the sites where ligaments and tendons attach to the bones, thus stimulating the ligaments and tendons to proliferate or grow at the injection sites. This area is called the fibro-osseous junction. “Fibro” means fibrous tissue that forms the ligament or tendon and “osseous” refers to the bone.
 |
| Figure 3: The
exact site of the pain is injected with Prolotherapy solution. |
Prolotherapy injections, therefore, stimulates the body to repair the exact site of the painful area. (See Figure 3.) Prolotherapy works because it addresses the root cause of chronic pain: ligament and tendon weakness. In our experience running a full time Prolotherapy clinic, we see that Prolotherapy works great for sprains and strains.
A very common condition we treat here at Caring Medical is chronic ankle sprains, along with other foot pain and Achilles tendon pain. In this video, Dr. Hauser explains various sports injuries and chronic pain conditions of the foot and ankle that he treats with Prolotherapy injections.
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