Why do I keep pulling muscles?

[Oliver1818]

in the last seven months or so, I've pulled about 40-50 muscles. It's infuriating, and I can't work out why it's happening. Ironically, it started when i decided to exercise less in fear of pulling muscles. I started warming up and stretching, which I hadn't done before, and now I'm pulling muscles a minimum of once a week. I can't do any judo because it really requires all your muscles, and I never exercise it when it's pulled. I rest, ice, compress (usually with a decapitated sock) and elevate. please don't say they're probably just sore, because I know they're pulled. I keep lessening the exercise i'm doing, but I still pull muscles. There's no consistency in the muscles that I pull either. I've pulled both calves, both hamstrings, both quads, both biceps, pectorals, triceps and others multiple times. In fact, while I'm writing this, I have ice filled socks on my arms because I pulled both triceps yesterday. one particular day I did literally no exercise other than walking and typing, but I somehow managed to pull a muscle in my leg. It wasn't bad, admittedly, but it was still confusing and annoying. I've started doing huge amounts of warm ups and stretching the muscles i'm going to exercise, and that has reduced the amount I'm pulling, but it still seems like I'm injured too easily.  

[Raf1978]

I too have this issue but I've had it my whole life. I believe it's from being born premature.  I now have a collection of muscles that have pulled and some that re-pull.  It's painful and I've been trying to find the cause for 20+ years with no luck.  Every doctor says they have never seen it before.  And I'm in great shape.  Just keeps getting more painful as the years roll on.  I now use shockwave gun treatment on my pulled muscles to get the knots out. 42/M/Canada

[fredjhuis]

I have the same problem. Over the years, I've learned from the various physical therapists the following. First a short warmup, 10 minutes on the exercycle on the easiest setting or a light walk aournd the house for a few minutes. Then I stretch, 3 sets of 30 seconds each with a short rest (or other stretch) in between. I was stretching too lightly, you really need to feel the pull. I also found that I need to stretch related muscles, in my case the hamstring, quads and IT band plus two different types of calf stretches, one with the knee slightly bent. It also helps to avoid night cramps by drinking lots of water and taking electrolites if sweating. And I try to avoid explosive force, jumping for example if I'm not thoroughly warmed up. Hope it helps.

[1_25]

I know that Im really young but I have the same problem.  and I'm not just a complaining little child ( 12 yrs ) but with the littlest exercise I injure myself.  I admit that I havent broken any bones from this but there is a slight link between what has happened to me , a commenter and you.  This is that we went from large amounts of exercise to less and attempted to rise that amount again.  for example I went from being on a cross country team in one of the best ( and sportiest) schools in the area I lived in in Australia, I trained a minimum of 3k three times a week in the morning.  And this alone made me have Achilles tendonitis ( I was 11 at the time) or so the doctor said, wether it was what I actually had or not I'm not sure.  But I then got the news that I was moving to England.  This men't that I would not go to school for nearly 3 months because of the difference in the school year time table.  In this time I got extremely unfit compared to what I was but I was not fully aware to what point this had come too.  When I started school again I was still faster and better then the majority of my class but I was surprised at how much will power I had to use to stay ahead.  I started joining sports clubs as I had before and relised that I got dizzy and felt I couldn't breath a lot but never told any of the teachers.  The bit that made me go over the edge was athletics training, I stuggled to run 400m which use to be my best ( I used to run it close to a minute and sometimes even under) but my legs hurt so much so I moved to sprinting.  not only was I slower than the majority of runners ( though they were on the sprinting team) but my arm started hurting! Just a reminder I was running! and it hurt so much that I stuggled to get changed afterward and at the time I already had a support around my leg because I sprained my leg.  And Everybody does not believe how much it hurts because apparently Im young and a big wimp but I have high pain intolerance.  The pain has even been affecting my sleep.  I havent told anybody but my sleep is so bad that I get to bed by 10:00 and cant is a big difference to the 9 and half I should be getting though it may not just because of my muscle ach.  this links to yours because you tried to lessen your exercise, and applies to the commenter because hes probably lessened it a bit after finishing college

[Chris419]

Oliver- were you ever given a diagnosis? I am suffering the exact same issue. It's a living nightmare. I'm a former college athlete (graduated 6 months ago) and for the past 6-8 months I've been dealing with this. I've seen 4 different doctors and 3 physical therapists; none of them know what's going on. I've seen two general practitioners, a sports med doctor and a rheumatologist. Ironically, the sports med doctor seemed the most clueless. I'm seeing a neurologist next week, hopefully they can figure it out. Dealing with this is a living hell, I used to be a happy person and this has ruined my life. If anyone has any ideas I would really appreciate it.

[Sheridanm]

Have you looked into yin deficiency?

[Veete]

I have exactly the same problems and it's so so fustrating !!
I have seen so many different experts and spent s small fortune trying to fix or get to the bottom of what's going on, with no success.
If anyone can help or recommend something of someone, please let me know.
Thanks

[Dr Vinod]

I would advice you to go for an orthopaedic examination to check out if you have any major problems and also would suggest you to perform all activities under a physical trainer. Take care!

[Tuckamore]

Hello Oliver,

I am sorry that you have experienced the painful muscle issues. I have requested that MedHelp move your question to a forum that may be better able to respond to your post.

We are the Pain Management Forum and do not have physicians to help with a possible diagnosis. You are always welcome here and if you feel you would like to re-post on this forum please feel free to do so.

Best of luck to you and take care,
Tuck