When it comes to occupational injuries, muscle strains and sprains rank in the top 3 for the most frequent types of injuries. Understanding the mechanism of muscles can help prevent these types of injuries by empowering workers to establish routines to protect their muscles. In this blog we will break down what a muscle is, how it works, what happens when it is injured, how it heals, and what workers can do to help prevent muscle related injuries.  

What is a Muscle and How Does it Work?

The body has three types of muscle: smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and skeletal muscle. Smooth muscle is what surrounds our organs and we are not in control of the contracting and relaxing mechanism and function. For instance, smooth muscle is responsible for the movement of food down the digestive tract. Similarly, cardiac muscle only exists in the heart, and we are not in control of its mechanism.

Skeletal muscle, however, we are in control of. Skeletal muscle is what allows us to sit up, breathe, walk, and even type out this blog. Our brains send “messages” via nerves to the muscles that need to contract in order to complete a particular function – i.e. an electrician picking up cable and maneuvering it during a cable pull. Skeletal muscles work in pairs, functioning as a “pull”, and they are attached to the bone by a tendon. A good example to visualize this is our biceps and triceps. When our bicep contracts, the muscle fibres shorten, and our tendons pull on the bone to bend our arm. When we want to straighten that same arm, the bicep muscles relax and shorten, and the tricep muscles contract, shorten, and “pull” the forearm down to be straight.

Our muscles are made up of bundles comprised of thousands of muscle fibres – like a rope with thousands of threads woven together in bundles. These bundles have blood vessels within them, providing a direct source of oxygen and nutrients. Comparatively, tendons do not have their own direct blood source, which is why they often take much longer to heal. By keeping muscle fibres healthy and stretched, this helps prevent strain on the tendons.

What Happens When a Muscle is Injured?

Muscle injury occurs when there is a tear in the fibres. However, not all muscle injury is considered “bad”. In fact, strength building and weight training causes micro tears in the muscle, allowing additional fibres to form and therefore making the muscle group stronger. This is why after a day at the gym or working a group of muscles you don’t usually use (like shovelling after the first snow fall of the year, or your first round of golf in the spring after a winter off) results in feeling sore for a couple of days after.

The severity of tear results in how severe your symptoms are after these muscles have been injured. Severity is defined by three grades: Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III. Grade I is a minor stretch or tear and typically takes 2-7 days to recover. Grade II is a moderate, partial tear, and can take 1-10 weeks to recover. A Grade III tear is the most severe and is a full thickness tear that can require surgery and several months to heal. This is where the importance of keeping muscles pliable and strong comes in. When you have a worker that is attempting to lift a heavy object, but hasn’t taken the time to warm up their muscles, those fibres are shortened and are at higher risk of a more severe tear if suddenly strained with heavy weight. This could result in months of physical therapy and modified work, which negatively impacts the worker and your company. Providing workers with education on the importance of keeping muscles strong and stretched as a leading indicator helps prevent potentially recordable injuries and long-term claims later on.

How Does a Muscle Heal?

When a muscle is injured, it requires nutrients to heal. How does a muscle receive nutrients? Blood flow.

When an injury to a muscle occurs, common symptoms include swelling. This swelling is the result of increased blood flow to the area – the body’s way of transporting nutrients and oxygen to the affected area. Although the body has natural ways of healing injured muscles, adjuncts like physiotherapy, ultrasound therapy, and TENS therapy can help increase blood flow, and thus nutrients required for healing to the area. Providing workers with basic information about the benefits of nutritious meals while working and ensuring that they are taking appropriate breaks to fuel their bodies throughout the day helps promote more efficient healing. In addition, this helps prevent Grade I tears from worsening before they’re able to heal.

Preventing Occupational Muscle Injury

Now that we have the knowledge to understand muscles and how they respond and heal in the instance of injury, we can empower workers to establish a routine to prevent injury. For instance, workers who have heavy, laborious jobs should be encouraged to stretch before their workday starts, before returning from breaks, and right before their workday ends. Although this may cut into work time, taking a few minutes to warm up the muscles by promoting blood flow and lengthening the fibres helps prevent cold, shortened muscles from tearing while the worker completes their job functions. A quick stretch at the end of the day promotes blood flow to any areas that may have suffered micro tears throughout the day, bringing nutrients and oxygen to the specific area, and in turn, promotes healing and mitigates stiffness the next day.

Remember how earlier we addressed that tendons don’t have their own source of blood flow (and subsequently oxygen and nutrients), but do the heavy lifting of the bones when the muscle contracts? Bringing extra blood flow to the area of the muscles also brings these essential nutrients and oxygen to the tendons – helping mitigate strains and sprains of tendons. Providing your workers with the knowledge of preventative practices can help them make educated choices both during and outside of work to help promote the longevity of healthy muscles.

How Baron Helps Keep Muscles Healthy

Baron strongly believes in risk mitigation and preventative strategies when it comes to occupational muscle injuries. Because of this, we have worked with clients to create individualized information assets for companies to provide to their workers. We know companies want to see their workers live long and healthy lives, so we are here to help proactively prevent these injuries from occurring, and step in to support when one happens – helping prevent recordables, lost time claims, and prolonged claims – a win for both you and your workers. Connect with us today for a free 30-minute consultation to discuss risk mitigation and preventative strategies for your organization!  

This blog is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional regarding any specific injury, symptoms, or concerns. If you believe you may be experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department. Baron Health & Safety Consultants is not responsible for any loss, injury, or damages resulting from reliance on the information contained within this blog.