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Workout Woes: Common Exercise Injuries and Treatment

Workout Woes: Common Exercise Injuries and Treatment

New year, new you. Starting a new exercise routine has huge payoffs when you stick with it for weeks and months at a time. Staying active is one of the best things you can do for your health. But let's face it, sometimes we get too enthusiastic and push our bodies beyond their limits. Listening to your body and recognizing when to dial it back or seek help is essential.

Though common, not all pain and strains from the gym are normal. Some common exercise scenarios could be warning signs of a bigger problem.

Muscle Soreness After Lifting Weights

No matter your gender or age, lifting weights is a great way to increase your resting heart rate, lower body fat, improve balance and motor coordination, and enhance joint stability. For a total-body workout, it's recommended to lift weights for 20 to 30 minutes three days a week.

While weightlifting can be rewarding, it also comes with risks. While muscle soreness is normal, sharp pain indicates that you may have overdone it. If you're experiencing persistent pain or swelling or can't move the affected muscle or joint, these could be signs of a more serious injury, like a strain or sprain, that needs medical attention.

When to Go to Urgent Care for a Muscle Strain

Muscle strains can be uncomfortable and complicate your daily life, but they often heal on their own. However, some strains require medical attention.

Consider going to urgent care if:

  • Pain isn't going away after a few days or getting worse
  • Symptoms include numbness or tingling
  • You heard a "pop" when the injury occurred
  • It's challenging to perform basic tasks, like walking or getting out of bed
  • You have numbness or tingling
  • You can't move the area
  • Pain radiates down the arms or legs
  • Over-the-counter pain relievers don't help

running injury

Chest Pain While Running

We all know that running is good for the heart and lungs. Within the first minute or so of any run, your pulse increases as your heart beats faster to pump enough oxygenated blood to your working muscles.

Some runners notice mild chest tightness or heaviness when they first head out for their run, but feeling chest pain when running can be confusing and concerning. The CDC reports every year, about 805,000 Americans have heart attacks, including about 605,000 for the first time.

When To Go to the Emergency Room for Chest Pain

While chest pain can result from something minor like muscle strain or acid reflux, it's crucial to rule out more serious conditions, like heart problems.

Consider seeking emergency help if:

  • Pain is severe
  • Pain lasts more than a few minutes
  • Pain is accompanied by other symptoms such as shortness of breath or nausea
  • Faint, lightheadedness, or an irregular heartbeat
  • You have a family history of heart disease or sudden cardiac death

Early Signs of a Heart Attack

There are early symptoms of a heart attack that may occur in 50 percent of all people who have heart attacks.

  • "Stuttering" chest pain is essentially mild chest pain or discomfort that comes on and then dissipates one or multiple times.
  • Sweating
  • Shoulder, neck, or jaw pain
  • Feeling faint or dizzy
  • Breathlessness
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Anxiety, confusion, or fear

Chest pain is often related to heart disease. Chest pain symptoms due to a heart attack or another heart condition may include:

  • Pressure, tightness, pain, squeezing or aching in the chest
  • Pain that spreads to the shoulder, arm, back, neck, jaw, teeth or upper belly
  • Shortness of breath
  • Fatigue
  • Heartburn or indigestion
  • Cold sweats
  • Lightheadedness
  • Fast heartbeat
  • Nausea

Sprained Ankle While Jumping

Jumping is a common part of sports and exercises, from basketball to box jumps. It's easy to lose your footing and land the wrong way on your foot, leading to a strain or sprain of an ankle. Many athletes experience ankle sprains. They start off as just a tweak, a slight pain that we tend to ignore. However, the twinge of pain is often caused by sprains or fractures from sudden injuries.

A sprain is an injury to a ligament, the tough band of tissue that connects two or more bones at a joint. When a sprain happens, one or more ligaments are stretched or torn.

Signs of a Sprain

  • Some swelling or bruising
  • Pain or discomfort when using the sprained joint
  • During injury, you may hear or feel a pop

​Is a Sprain an Emergency?

​Sprains are painful, but a visit to an emergency room is not usually required. Mild sprains respond well to home treatment. However, other injuries like fractures can also occur if the sprain is severe.

When To Go to Urgent Care for a Sprain

A sprain can occur from overuse or a fall, and it's not something to take lightly.

Consider going to urgent care if you have:

  • Persistent pain
  • Can't move or bear weight on the sprained joint
  • Numbness in any part of the injured limb or joint
  • Swelling at the wrist
  • Feeling of Instability
  • A noticeable decrease in grip strength

Targeted pain can also result from long-term problems and repetitive stress on the ligaments.

Ignoring these symptoms can lead to long-term damage, so it's important to seek help soon after an injury.

Be Smart When Starting a New Exercise Routine

Federal guidelines for adults recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. You might split that into 22 minutes a day or 30 minutes a day for 5 days. You can use any combination that fits your schedule.

No matter what exercise you're into, knowing your limits and listening to your body is always important. Don't ignore pain because it's your body's way of telling you something is wrong. Warm up properly before exercising, stay hydrated, and use the correct techniques to prevent injuries. And most importantly, if you're ever in doubt, don't hesitate to consult a medical professional.

Legacy ER & Urgent Care

Get Care for Accidental Injuries at Legacy ER & Urgent Care

Legacy ER & Urgent Care is here to meet your medical care needs by providing affordable pricing and quality care. As part of Intuitive Health’s innovative hybrid model ER and urgent care system, patients are only billed for the level of care they receive from professional and highly trained medical staff. With six facilities located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, emergent and non-emergent care are accessible and transparent, focusing on superb customer service.

Legacy ER & Urgent Care has seven convenient locations in the DFW area: