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How long to heal an abdominal strain??? (Read 114 times)

ABTASTIK


    I'm six weeks into a lower ab strain.  I can run with no pain after taking 4 weeks off.  After my runs I have some pretty bad pain.  Suggestions?  I'm freaking out.

    Buzzie


    Bacon Party!

      Don't stop running.

      Liz

      pace sera, sera

      pedaling fool


        I'm going thru the same thing, I got it from doing too much speedwork, so I've back off and taking it easy doing slow runs when my knee allows (another injury I'm going thru -- has been a bad couple of months). I've had this same issue before and they do take a long while to heal.

          I struggled with an abdominal strain for 6 months.  My mistake was trying to rest it better.  You have to understand that the strain was caused by weak abdominal muscles.  I finally made progress when I went to physical therapy and they made me work the muscles that I thought I was supposed to be resting.  My advice is to learn how to do a plank (correctly), and add it to your workout routine and the abdominal strain will take care of itself.

          ABTASTIK


            Wow.  How long until the pain goes away?  How long to strengthen my abs?

             

            I saw a soft tissue chiro for an NFL team and am on a regimin of ab and glute exercises.  In two weeks my plank has gone from 10 sec to 40 seconds (without shaking).

             

            So glad I can run but boy does it hurt after!


            King of PhotoShop

              What heffa said above is accurate in my experience. Ran 21 miles one day then went to the gym and was doing situps, like a dope. Strained abdominis rectus.  Dithered around with various exercises and stretches, then went to a sports med dr., who sent me to PT.  Best thing I ever did.  The PT accurately had me strengthen the smaller surrounding muscles, so that they would fire, carry the load and let the damaged muscle heal.  I am convinced you have to do this the right way.  Go get real help, or it won't go away for a long time.  Spareribs

              lilcat19


                I feel bad saying this but I've been dealing with one for almost 2 years (2 years in May). I'll be ok for a little while but then it comes back. Did PT for it last year during spring marathon training and it helped a ton. Honestly, the only core work I can do are my PT exercises. If I try to do planks, push ups, legs raises, or most any other core exercise it flairs up. I have not taken any time off, though. If it gets too bad, I'll either do intervals or cut the run short and get back on schedule the next day.

                I do recommend a good anti-inflammatory. I find that when mine starts to flair up, I can usually keep it from getting to bad with some ibuprofen or diclofenac if it is hurting pretty good.

                Good luck, ab strains are tough to deal with but it is possible to run through.

                ABTASTIK


                  Spareribs - how long until you could run without pain the next day?  MY post run pain only lasted about 30 hours.  I'm planking 3 0r 4 times a day and icing and smell like a senior living community with all the icy hot and Bengay.

                   

                  Lilicat19 - I can plank, side plank and do leg lifts and glute work with no pain.  My PT said no crunches as they would aggregate things.

                   

                  Thanks all!  Race season starts in a month and I now have a glimmer of hope!

                  jeffdonahue


                    I got one playing soccer a few years ago.  I think it came on in mid-October and it hurt to run.  After resting for about a month (rest for me being running slowly for about a mile a day), I was able to run without pain and eventually it fully healed up by March and I was able to do a 10 mile race in march.  I was definitely fully healed by April when soccer started again.

                     

                    But all in all I wouldn't have called myself fully healed for 5-6 months.

                     

                    The problem with abdominal strains are that they are a very deep muscle.  you cant really stretch it, and being so deep ice doesn't really do a whole lot for it.  it really just took the rest.


                    King of PhotoShop

                      Unlike others who posted here, my pain was not "the next day." It was immediate, during the run.  My guess, as this goes back about 12 years, is 6 months until I was healed up.  To give you some perspective however, I'm 68, so my guess is I was mid-50's when all this was going on.  I'm pretty slow now, but at 59 I recall running the Half in 1:34, so I was a decent runner back then.  Spareribs

                      ABTASTIK


                        For anyone following this I managed a 5 miler yesterday at pee-paw pace and still had pretty bad soreness after  and this was after a weeks rest.  MY plank is up over a minute now and my glutes are approaching Kardashian territory.  I will continue to run through this(short runs) and report o my progress.  I'm pretty sure my race season is kaput.

                          For anyone following this I managed a 5 miler yesterday at pee-paw pace and still had pretty bad soreness after  and this was after a weeks rest.  MY plank is up over a minute now and my glutes are approaching Kardashian territory.  I will continue to run through this(short runs) and report o my progress.  I'm pretty sure my race season is kaput.

                           

                          Have you tried other abdominal exercises?  When I had a lower ab strain, it was the driving forward motion of running that hurt the most.  I could do planks and push-ups fine but when I tried leg lifts, that hurt like hell.  I had to start by doing donkey kicks with exaggerating the knee lift to chest before I kicked out to help work strength through the range of motion.  I'd suggest a mix of things for your ab routine - crunches, sit-ups, leg lifts, planks (front and side) and russion twist.  I wonder if any of the motions through these exercises hurt more than others?

                          ABTASTIK


                            The only exercise that hurts is the plain old crunch.  I ran 5 miles yesterday on a flat indoor surface at a slow pace and have zero pain today. I did a lot of hard massage on the area as well.  I seemed to have urned the corner rapidly.  I think running through it was sound advice.