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Abstract
Muscle injuries are the most common athletic sports injuries. It constitutes 31% of all injuries. A muscle injury occurs when it is subjected to a load that forces the muscle to reach its failure point, either passively or actively. Injuries usually occur at the myotendinous junction (MTJ) where myofibers and the tendon are connected. It is manifested clinically by immediate onset of disabling pain that limits the function, followed by weakness and decreased range of motion (ROM). Stretching of the muscle may influence the orientation and alignment of collagen fibers. If fiber orientation and alignment is not restored properly, tensile strength will not be restored, leading to a residual impairment in form of prolonged pain, limited function, weakness, and a high risk of recurrence. Thus, stretching plays an important role in treating muscle strain injuries and improve the effectiveness of the rehabilitation. To investigate the effects of stretching exercise onset time on the healing and functional recovery of induced-strain muscle injury of tibialis anterior (TA) muscle in rats. Forty male wister rats weighing 167 ±19 grams. Based on stretching onset, rats were randomly divided into five groups: (I) str.48 hr. (II) str. 7th d. (III) str. 14th d. (IV) injured control and (V) normal control. TA strain was induced to the first 4 groups while the 5th was left as a normal control. Stretching exercise protocol of 4 repetitions, 30 sec hold and 30 sec rest for 8 consecutive days was applied in same way for the first 3 groups except for the onset time. Each group started separately at 48 hr., 7th day and 14th day, respectively