Quadriceps strain, or a pulled quad muscle is a common injury in sports. Most muscle strains can occur with any activity requiring explosive contraction of the muscles.
Quad strains like hamstring strains, can become chronic nagging injuries if not treated properly.
The Quadriceps
The quadriceps muscle group is four muscles. The vastus intermedius is found on the front of the thigh, profoundly into the rectus femoris. The vastus medialis is found toward the inside of the leg, while the vastus lateralis is outward of the leg.
The vastus muscles all attach on the proximal femur, and declines the front of the leg, inserting on the patella through the quadriceps tendon. The rectus femoris attaches above the hip joint on the anterior inferior iliac spine, and courses downward the leg inserting into the patella, again through the quadriceps tendon.
All of the quadriceps muscles extend the knee, and the rectus femoris muscle helps flex the hip as well.
The rectus femoris is one of the most commonly strained quadriceps muscles, and may also be involved in hip flexor strains as well.
What is a Quadriceps Strain?
A quadriceps strain is a tears muscle fibers in one of the four quadriceps muscle, most commonly in the rectus femoris.
This injury occurs with explosive contraction of the muscle, often when trying to change directions, jumping, or taking off to run.
Quad injury is graded one to three scale, with grade one strains being the least severe, and grade three being the worst.
Depending on the severity of the strain, you may be able to feel a defect in the muscle, or a hole where the tear is.
The most common indicator of a quadriceps strain is pain. It is usually acute in nature, occurring immediately after the injury.
There may be swelling around the site of injury coupled with some discoloration around the injury site too. If the tear is large, and there is a lot of bleeding, swelling may emanate the entire thigh.
Muscle spasm, or knots in the muscle, are also very common symptoms of a quad injury.
Although quadriceps strains are common, minimal information about the frequency with respect to specific sports is available. As for quadriceps contusions and the distribution per year was reported as follows: rugby 4.7%, karate and judo 2.3%, football 1.6%, and all other sports fewer than 1%. Quadriceps muscle hernias are believed to be more common in soccer, basketball, and rugby.
The incidence of jumper’s knee at the quadriceps insertion onto the patella is less common than patellar tendonitis. One study reported all tendinopathies affecting the extensor mechanism, the frequency of patellar tendonitis at its insertion was 65%, quadriceps tendonitis was 25%, and patellar tendonitis at its insertion into the tibial tuberosity was 10%.
Rupture of the quadriceps tendon is more common in both older patients and younger athletes. Several studies demonstrate the mean age of patients with quadriceps rupture is about 65 years. But, in athletes, the mean age cited ranges from 15 to 30 years. Sports associated with quadriceps rupture are high jump, basketball, and weight lifting. Rupture is also not uncommon in patients with renal failure.
Lower body exercises
Performing certain lower body exercises quickly rather than the number of repetitions performed is crucial for basketball training. The back squat, where the barbell rests on the back of your shoulders, for 30 seconds. Also suggestible is incorporating a squat jump into your routine. Perform this by putting your hands on the ground and lowering your butt to the floor. Jump into the air as high as possible using your arms to propel you. When you land, immediately jump once again. You need to focus on jumping as many times as possible and as high as possible. Perform between six and 10 repetitions. The series is completed by performing a standing quad stretch where you pull the top of one foot behind you.
Prevention
Preventing quadriceps strains involves a good warm up and stretching program prior to activities, as well assuring proper conditioning for your sports activities.
Injury prevention is allowing the injury to heal before returning to sports, and rehabilitating to restore strength and flexibility.
