MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES
The majority of injuries people encounter are typically musculoskeletal in nature, involving the muscles, bones, tendons or joints.Serving Vancouver and Port Coquitlam
Want to see your physiotherapist virtually? Book a Tele-Rehab appointment
What are Musculoskeletal Injuries?
A musculoskeletal injury is what most people would call when they hurt themselves. The definition of musculoskeletal is anything involving the muscles, bones, tendons or joints. Examples of a musculoskeletal injury are endless and could include a sprained ankle, back pain, a torn ACL, whiplash, a broken arm, a bruise or contusion and a dislocated shoulder.
Physiotherapists are well equipped to treat and manage all forms of musculoskeletal injuries. At Westcoast SCI, we pride ourselves on looking at the big picture when someone comes in with an injury. By asking good questions and getting to the root of an injury, we can find a long term solution to a problem and give you guidance on how to take care of it on your own.
Back pain for example will likely affect up to 80% of the population at one time or another. If you’ve ever suffered from it, you know just how debilitating it can be. If we were only to focus on the back pain, we’re not really going to help your problem long term. We need to look at many factors including lifestyle, occupation, activity level, medical history and more. In addition, we would have to look at the entire body. Many times back pain has contributing factors from other areas of the body. We would want to look at the pelvis, hips, knees and feet. The upper back and posture can also play a role.
Common Musculoskeletal Injuries
If you’re looking for a physiotherapist who can help you with all of your musculoskeletal injuries in Vancouver or Port Coquitlam, the physiotherapists at Westcoast SCI would love to help!
What causes musculoskeletal injury?
The majority of injuries people encounter are typically musculoskeletal in nature. As the word implies, musculoskeletal refers to anything to do with the muscles or bones. This would include joints (knees, hips, back, neck and shoulders) as well as ligaments (ACL in the knee for example).
What does musculoskeletal pain feel like?
Musculoskeletal pain can be sharp, dull or ache. Sometimes it can even feel like electricity zapping you. Occasionally, it can also show up as a burning sensation. If you’re unsure, the best thing to do is give us a call so we can have a better look. Westcoast SCI services Vancouver, Port Coquitlam and our neighbouring communities!
What are the signs and symptoms of a musculoskeletal injury?
The most obvious sign and symptom of a musculoskeletal injury would be swelling. This can also be associated with redness, bruising or warmth. For the most part, it’s pretty obvious when you’ve suffered from a musculoskeletal injury…It hurts!
What’s the best way to prevent musculoskeletal injuries?
Preventing musculoskeletal injuries is difficult. We always want to encourage people to live healthy active lives and in doing so, many people can suffer from an injury at one time or another. By keeping yourself strong, fit and agile, the likelihood of sustaining a long term injury is decreased. Also the healthier an individual is, the less likely an injury will become chronic in nature.
How long do musculoskeletal injuries take to heal?
Typically a musculoskeletal injury takes somewhere between 3-8 weeks to heal. However, this is a tricky question. This can depend on many factors such as your age, activity level (or physical fitness level), the severity of the injury, whether surgery was involved and how many body areas are affected.
For example a bruise on your thigh for a child can heal in a week or so, but this same bruise on a 90 year sedentary person may take several months or even years to heal!
Attention: As of October 31, 2022 our Vancouver location will be located at 1762 W. 8th Ave