A pulled abdominal muscle is an injury to one of the muscles of the abdominal wall. A muscle pull occurs when the muscle is stretched too far. When this occurs the muscle fibers are torn. Most commonly, a strain causes microscopic tears within the muscle, but occassionally, in severe injuries, the muscle can rupture from its attachment.
The abdominal wall is made up of several muscles. These include:
- Rectus Abdominis: the muscle is over the front of the .
- Internal and External Oblique: the obliqes wrap around the sides of the body.
Abdominal muscle strains usually cause immediate pain in the area of the injured muscle. It can be hard to flex the muscle because of this pain. The other common symptom is muscle spasm of the injured muscle. Less commonly, swelling and brusing can result from the muscle injury.
Treatment of a pulled abdominal muscle injury is difficult there is no way to splint the abdomen and it is nearly impossible to fully rest these muscles. The patient should not partake I any strenuous exercises. Gentle stretching can be done but it should not be painful. Apply ice to the injured and then after activities. Before activities, gentle heating can help to loosen the muscle.
