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The oblique muscles are made up of the internal obliques and external oblique muscles. Strains to these muscles are prevalent in any athlete who emphasizes trunk rotation, stability, and power. The internal oblique is more commonly injured than the external as it is deep stabilizer muscle. They both start in the posterior region of the trunk, wrap around the anterior region of the trunk, and run perpendicular to each other. They function to perform and control trunk lateral flexion and rotation and are the link between the rib cage and pelvis. It is common in baseball, tennis, and golf, and in the opposite side of the dominant shoulder/arm. It is also a deep core stabilizer that is crucial to trunk stability and power for an athlete, and the mechanism of injury usually involves overextending the muscle and straining the side of a person's nondominant arm. For example, if someone throws with their right arm, the side strain will occur on their left oblique.
This is an injury that can take 4-6 weeks for fielders and 6-8 weeks for pitchers depending on the severity of the strain.
Common symptoms include:
- Sudden sharp pain on the side of your abdomen
- Swelling, bruising, or tenderness in the affected area
- Muscle weakness, stiffness or cramping
- Difficulty bending or twisting
- Limited mobility
- Muscle spasms
- Pain that worsens when you cough, sneeze, laugh, or exercise
- Pain that worsens when you move around after being inactive for a long time
We typically throw the kitchen sink at this with a variety of interventions with outstanding results since we know that if an athlete only rests it can take months before he is back playing, and unconfident in his ability to return. Days after they strain their oblique, we use Class IV laser therapy, soft tissue therapy, and Kinesio taping to decrease pain, swelling, and inflammation. As we progressively load them and get to the latter stages of treatment we introduce shockwave therapy, and utilize the NXPro to improve the range of motion and improve the neurological connection to the affected muscles. In addition to the healing effects the NXPro device has, the system can also be used to help with
- Increasing muscular strength and endurance
- Increasing flexibility and mobility
- Decreasing muscular tightness and limitation
- Reducing muscular atrophy
This allows the athlete to not only decrease their pain and improve recovery time but also counteracts the muscle loss that would be certain to happen with months of inactivity.
In conclusion, it is super important to have the right diagnosis, care plan, treatment, and prevention strategies to apply in the future so they are confident this injury won’t come back. If any athlete has a 3-month offseason, being able to be 100% for the last 2 months of that is a game changer.
Do you suffer from oblique pain? If so, schedule your FREE Discover Appointment with Dr. Caleb or Dr. Cameron today at Strength & Spine Chiropractic!
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