Quad Contusions

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The quadriceps muscles (front of the thigh) are constantly exposed to direct contact in various vigorous sports such as football, soccer, and basketball.  These muscles serve as the prime movers in walking and running.  The Quads are composed of four muscles: Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis, Vastus Intermedius, and Vastus Medialis.  These muscles cause hip flexion and knee extension.  They arise from areas on the pelvis and femur (thigh bone), and insert via the patellar tendon on to the tibia (shin bone).

A quadriceps contusion can vary from a mild bruise to a severe bruise with a deep hematoma (blood pool) that may take months to heel.  The mechanism of injury is usually a direct blow to the front or outside of the thigh.  This causes the muscle mass to be compressed and crushed against the femur.  A quad contusion displays the standard signs of a muscle injury:  pain, effusion (swelling), muscle tightness, increase in local heat production, and ecchymosis (bruising).  These symptoms are not as localized as other injuries due to the large area affected.

This mechanism of injury results in a crushing force on the muscle tissue.  The body's response is to wall-off the area of damage from the unaffected muscle.  This is done to prevent damaging chemicals released due to the injury from further damaging the muscle.  This results in a decrease in the oxygen to surrounding tissue.   This walling off the muscle is one of the causes of the associated stiffness, the other is the body creating an internal splint to prevent further injury.  This splinting or spasm of the muscle results in slower healing.

Moderate to severe contusions may result in the formation of a myositis ossificans (calcium deposit) with in the muscle.  This is a situation to avoid.  A myositis will result in long term loss of strength and function.  Rehab of  a mild to moderate contusion  needs to be very controlled to prevent a myositis from forming.  Being too aggressive will actually slow the healing process.

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©2000 - 2006 David Edell

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Last Update for AthleticAdvisor.com: 06/04/2006 12:01:52 PM