Sprains and Strains Treatment Clinic in Brooklyn, NY

Urgent care centers are able to treat sprains on-site. Sprains are the result of an injury to the ligaments that can happen when they are stretched, torn, or both. Sprains are common injuries that can happen while walking or lifting as well as from playing sports or exercising as they involve joints that are responsible for movement and locomotion. Minor sprains can be treated at home with a simple treatment plan of rest, ice, compression, and elevation to help reduce swelling and pain, as well as over-the-counter painkillers if needed. However, some sprains can be quite severe and require urgent medical attention. Doctors in urgent care are able to diagnose sprains in the extremities such as foot, ankle, hand, or wrist. Many urgent care centers have on-site x-ray labs which allow for a quick and easy diagnosis and understanding of the severity of the sprain to know how to treat it. Urgent Care doctors are also set up to perform splints if needed or apply a compression bandage. If the x-ray shows that there is in fact a fractured bone instead of, or in addition to a sprain, the doctor will either be able to splint the extremity or send you to an emergency room to have it properly set prior to casting it to ensure it heals properly.

The easiest way to tell the difference between a pulled muscle and a torn muscle is from the pain. A pulled muscle is actually a torn muscle but with tiny, microscopic tears. Pulled muscles will be painful when stretched or put under stress and will need to be treated with rest and ice for one to three weeks while the tears heal themselves. A torn muscle on the other hand will be extremely painful with swelling and bruising at the site, you may even be able to see a deformity in the muscle through the skin. With a torn muscle, it will be difficult or even impossible to fully contract the affected muscle. Rest and ice won’t work on a torn muscle, often they will require surgery and physical therapy for rehabilitation. In case of a torn muscle, we can provide you with a referral to an orthopedic specialist who can give you more detailed treatment for optimal recovery.

Sprains and strains can be very similar in their symptoms, making it hard to tell the difference from one type of injury to the other. Both will have limited flexibility and range of motion, inflammation, and pain at the site of the injured area and can range from mild to severe in terms of the extent of the injury. The difference however is in what exactly is injured. In a sprain, the injury is in the ligaments, which are the bands of tissue connecting bones to make up a joint. Sprains are caused by the overstretching or tearing of these ligaments, mostly in the body’s extremities like the hands, feet, ankles, and wrists. Strains on the other hand are an overstretching or tearing of tendons or muscles. Tendons connect bones to muscles and are dense fibrous cords of tissue. The hamstring and lower back are the most common locations for people to experience muscle strain. With sprains, you will often find bruising around the affected joint, whereas with a strain you may find spasms in the affected muscle. Doctors may request an x-ray to diagnose a sprain or a strain in order to rule out any broken bones. Typically though, a sprain or strain is diagnosed through your symptoms and ruling out other scenarios for the symptoms.
 
For urgent treatment of sprain or strain, we welcome you to visit Big Apple Medical Urgent Care. For more information, contact us or schedule an appointment online. We are conveniently located at 3805 Church Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203. We serve patients from Brooklyn NY, Flatlands NY, Canarsie NY, Park Slope NY, Prospect Heights NY, Clinton Hill NY, East New York NY, and surrounding areas.