Muscle Contracture: Causes, Effects, and Treatment Options [Video]

Can physical therapies help relieve muscle contractures in individuals who have endured prolonged bed rest, inactivity, or lack of use of certain muscle groups?

Muscle Contracture

A muscle contracture, or contracture deformity, is caused when a muscle loses elasticity. This causes permanent shortening and tightening of muscle fibers, which reduces flexibility and makes movement difficult. Muscles that cannot move and stretch cause the surrounding joints to lose mobility and develop pain symptoms. When trying to stretch the contracted muscle, the individual will feel the muscle become very rigid, which can increase pain. (Lieber, R. L., and Fridén, J. 2019) Delaying treatment can potentially cause irreversible and chronic symptoms.

Commonly Affected Muscles

Flexor muscles bend the joints and are those most affected by contractures. The stiffening and tightening prevent the body parts from moving out and away. The most common include:

Wrist and Finger Flexors

• Muscle groups that bend the wrist and fingers.

Biceps

• The primary elbow flexor that bends the …