You step off the curb and twist your ankle. You bang your head a little too hard on an open closet door and feel a bump forming. You fall on your knee and the bruise is a shade of purple you've never seen.
How do you know when these minor soft tissue injuries are severe enough to see a health care provider? And if you should see a doctor, where do you go?
UPMC's doctors can see sprains, strains, bumps, bruises, and other minor musculoskeletal injuries. We can often see you the same day, so you can avoid a trip to the emergency room.
Related services include:
If bone is your hard tissue, soft tissue refers to your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Soft tissues connect and protect your bones and other structures.
When you fall, collide with something hard, or suffer a blow, you can damage your soft tissue. This causes pain, swelling, and often bruising. Sometimes, you may even have a lump.
The most common soft tissue injuries are:
As a rule, trauma causes soft tissue injuries. The trauma can be so small that you almost forget about it until you see the bruise. Or it can be more serious, like a car crash or a bad fall.
People tend to wind up with bruises, bumps, sprains, and strains because of:
The other big cause of soft tissue injuries involves overuse. Overuse injuries, like tendonitis and bursitis, are more chronic issues. These injuries happen over time and are often sports injuries.
Many soft issue injuries heal on their own. Even the most purple bruise will get better with basic home care.
But sometimes a deep muscle bruise can cause painful swelling and lead to a problem called compartment syndrome. If your bruise keeps getting worse, and you start to have numbness and weakness, call the doctor.
As for sprains and strains, if the damage is severe, like a torn ligament or ruptured tendon, it causes instability. Without treatment, you can cause further damage to the ligament or tendon. You'll usually know if a strain or sprain is severe because you'll have limited mobility and severe pain.
Back to topMost soft tissue injuries cause:
Depending on how severe the injury is, you may have trouble moving the limb. For example, a sprained ankle or sprained wrist will be tender (and you may have a wrist or ankle sprain bruise). A pulled hamstring will hurt if you try to bend down touch your toes.
Back to topWhen you have a provider look at a potential soft tissue injury, they'll likely:
Most of the time, minor soft tissue injuries don't require an x-ray. Doctors usually only order imaging tests if they suspect a severe sprain or strains.
For bumps to the head, if the provider suspects a concussion, they'll ask about other symptoms, including:
If you have these symptoms after hitting your head, tell your doctor right away.
Back to topIf you only have minor pain, bruising, or swelling, you can usually treat your injury at home, using RICE.
You can also take ibuprofen (Advil) and acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain and swelling.
For injuries that likely aren't fractures, call the doctor to make an appointment if you have:
Last reviewed by Susan Marchezak, CRNP on 2024-04-24.
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