There are three levels of a pulled chest muscle.
The most mild is a muscle spasm because of under-nourishment or insufficient blood supply to the muscle. A strained chest muscle is a tendon that binds muscle to bone, and it has been over-stretched. Tendon is not supposed to stretch, it is not flexible. A chest muscle tear is at least 5% tendon tear. A 50% tear is tendon rupture.
A pulled chest muscle symptoms is apparent with sharp to dull, or aching to stabbing pain. Other common symptoms are
- discomfort to the chest muscle structure
- strain to the tendon
- or a chest muscle tear
A pulled a chest muscle is tendons strain, not the muscle.
Notable symptoms of a pulled muscle in the chest are within 24 hours after the injury. The most evident is in the chest, which feels like a sharp burning pain during movement or rotation. Muscle strain is apparent while lifting or moving the arms.
Muscle strains are classified into three grades. The symptoms associated with each grade of a chest muscle strain are
Grade 1 – involves mild injury to a few of the muscle fibers, and is generally experienced as mild chest pain. Other symptoms may include:
- mild edema
- chest discomfort
- mild loss of strength
- minor limitation of movements
Grade 2 – involves moderate injury that affects a large number of muscle fibers, and inflicts tissue damage or partial muscle tear. Other symptoms are
- chest pain
- mild bruising
- tangible muscle defect
- loss of strength
- pain during arm and shoulder movements
- tenderness and inflammation
Grade 3 – severe injury that is a complete muscle tear and loss of muscle function. It causes structural damage like
- severe chest pain
- loss of strength
- hematoma
- inflammation of chest wall
- limitation of arm and shoulder movements
- post-treatment persistence of muscle pain
