I play soccer and thankfully have never pulled anything but both of my quad muscles have been in some pain. I cant tell if their just sore or if i might have pulled them. When i run they are both fine but when i go to kick the ball the leg i kick with hurts. My coach thinks im just sore but i dont know because i have never had pain like this when being sore. Can any one tell me the difference between the two (pain wise)

Chosen Answer:

In a pulled muscle there is soreness because usually there is moderate damage to nerve fibers that surround the muscles that is pulled. This requires “downtime” or resting of that muscle to allow it to heal. Which usually takes as little as a few days to a few weeks- depending how bad it is. Muscle soreness results from overall breakdown in the integrity of tissue in a specific group of muscles. This is normal when a muscle is over used. Body builders continue to break down and rebuild their muscles. Each time layers of cell are duplicated adding muscle mass over the course of time.

So there are multiple levels of muscle damage starting with typical soreness by exertion, moderate damage which is referred to as a pull, and the highest level of damage is a tear which is varying degrees of a damage that can require surgery to repair. In this case its usually the connecting cartilage that is damaged that is more fibrous than muscle and does not repair itself as easily as muscle does. Cartilage is also the structure that fastens muscle to bone.
by: Keep Asking
on: 7th August 08