Obliques are the muscle group residing within the abdominal muscles. Abdominal strain, which gives rise to internal muscle strain, is found among active people and especially in athletes. If you are facing internal oblique muscle strain, you need to contact your doctor for taking feasible steps to reduce the symptoms. In addition, if you leave internal oblique muscle strain untreated it may become chronic. Internal oblique muscle strain may occur any time but usually such strains come up when you do certain activities using these oblique muscles. The oblique muscles connect certain parts of your body such as:
- Lower back
- Abdominal fascia
- Top part of your hip bone
- Ribs.
The oblique muscles are often recognized as waist muscles. Moreover, a strain may be felt when you bent or twist forcefully giving rise to pain. The reasons for internal oblique muscle strain could be simple day to day activities viz., chronic coughing, rowing, lifting heavy objects, wrong posture like sitting in an extended position for a long time, post-surgical abdominal scars, raking soil etc. Apart from these, you may get internal oblique strain due to certain other works, which required force on abdominal muscles.
Home Remedies for Internal Oblique Muscle Strain?
Some good home remedies can help you deal with internal oblique muscle strain and they include:
- Cold Gel Treatment for Relieving Internal Oblique Muscle Strain: Biofreeze pain relieving gel is a good home remedy to get relief from the pain and discomfort. If you face sudden trigger of internal oblique muscle strain then this therapy can work well for you. Biofreeze works better than warm gel treatments and a recent research even reveals that Biofreeze reduces pain about 2 times more than using ice. Patient who has recently faced muscle injuries, Biofreeze is the best solution for them. One needs to start rubbing Biofreeze under the breasts going down towards the pubic bone.
- Hot and Cold Packs: Another effective home remedy for abdominal and rib pain is hot and cold pack. The pack consists of a clay type component and it’s a soft thing due to which you can easily mold the pack in your body. The pack remains wrapped using soft suede and thus your skin won’t feel any shock once it’s applied. You need to start rubbing the pack under the breasts draping over the surfaces of your body.
- Abdominal Support and Abdominal Compression: This is one of the top quality products used to treat internal oblique muscle strain naturally at home. This brace helps a lot in reducing lower back and lower abdominal pain and thus you can stay well in real time. The brace is also useful in regulating your body heat entering your muscles giving you true comfort. Those who faced recent injuries with serious flare-ups can wear it and experience good comfort and you can even get a good night sleep.
Exercises for Relieving Internal Oblique Muscle Strain
Along with the other quick home remedies, you can practice some exercises regularly that come out as effective solutions to get rid of internal oblique muscle strain. Such exercises are like:
- Abdominal Drawing-In Maneuver: To do this exercise for internal oblique strain, lie with your back on the floor bending your knees with your feet remaining flat on the floor. Then you need to pull your belly button towards your spine. Practice this position for 15 seconds repeating for 5-10 times.
- Pelvic Tilt Exercises for Internal Oblique Muscle Strain: First, lie on the back of your body bending your knees keeping your feet flat on the floor. Then start pulling your belly button towards your spine pushing your lower back into the floor. Keep your back in a flat position and hold this position for about 15 seconds and then you can relax. Next, repeat this posture for about 5-10 times.
- Partial Curl Exercise for Internal Oblique Muscle Strain: Lie with your back and keep your knees bent with your feet on the floor. Then draw your belly button towards your abdomen and start tightening your abdominal muscles. Next, stretch your hands in front, curl the upper portion of your body in a forward direction and hold it until the shoulders clear upon the floor. Remain in this position for 3 seconds and avoid holding your breathe. Then make your body relaxed and repeat the posture for 10 times.
- Dead Bug Posture for Relieving Internal Oblique Muscle Strain: Lie on your back, bend your knees and keep the arms at your side. You need to keep the feet flat on the floor slowly drawing in your abdomen that helps in tightening your abdominal muscles. Now, with this posture, raise your one leg and the opposite arm up to some inches above the floor and keeping it in the position for about 5 seconds. Then you make your body relaxed and repeat 5 times using your each leg and arm. Alternatively, you can also do this exercise with raising all the four limbs above the floor for 5 seconds and return to the normal lying down position.
There are also few other exercises practicing which you can strengthen your oblique muscle. These include:
- Diagonal Curl Exercise for Internal Oblique Muscle Strain: Lie down with your back and the knees bent keeping your feet flat on the floor. Now, clasp your hand below the neck supporting your head. Start pulling your abdomen in and lift your head and right shoulder from the floor and start rotating your trunk towards the left side. You can’t use your arms for supporting your body while lifting. Stay in this position for about 3 seconds and again start with the same for the other side. You need to repeat this for 15 times and make sure you practice 2 sets of 15 for both sides of your body.
- Side Plank for Strengthening Internal Oblique Muscle Strain: Lie down with your side leaving the legs, hips and shoulders in a straight direction. Next, keep your palm below your shoulder. Now, lift the body up starting with the hips from the floor putting the balance on your forearm, straightening it slowly and on your foot. You need to hold this posture for about 15 seconds and slowly lower your body back to the ground. Make sure you swap the sides repeating the posture. It would be better if you can hold it for 1 minute.
However, you should practice these exercises under the supervision of an expert ensuring that you won’t hurt yourself further leading to other problems.
What are the Early Warning Signs of Internal Oblique Muscle Strain?
Internal oblique muscle strain gives rise to the following symptoms:
- Pain
- Slipped rib
- Acid reflux
- Heartburn
- Constipation
- Hiatal Hernia
- Appendicitis
- Colitis
- Costochondritis
- Pancreatitis
- Ovarian Cyst
- Prostatitis
- Urinary Incontinence.
If you face any of these symptoms, seek medical attention ensuring that you are diagnosed in the right way that would help you to improve your condition getting rid of the constant pain and discomfort.
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