Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSymptomsCausesDiagnosisTreatmentWhen to Seek CarePrevention
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Symptoms
Causes
Diagnosis
Treatment
When to Seek Care
Prevention
A pulled abdominal muscle is an overuse injury that often happens in sports or when lifting something heavy. The muscle is stretched too far, causing tiny, microscopic tears. It’s also known as an abdominal muscle strain or pulled stomach muscle.
Verywell / Emily Roberts
The main symptom of a pulled ab muscle is pain in the area of the muscle strain. Depending on the affected muscle, the pain may be in the upper, middle, lower, or right or left side of your abdomen.
You have four groups of abdominal muscles:
These muscles stabilize the core, rotate the torso, and flex the spine. A strain in these muscles can cause pain when you move in various directions.
Pain may be felt in the immediate area of the injury, cover a wider area, or extend to your back, hip, or groin. Other symptoms of a pulled abdominal muscle include:
Any activity that engages the muscles with excessive force can lead to an abdominal muscle stain, including:
Poor conditioning or an imbalance in core muscle strength can make you more vulnerable to abdominal muscle strain. Research shows a size difference between the right and left rectus abdominis increases the strain risk.
Your healthcare provider can diagnose a pulled abdominal muscle based on your symptoms and after ruling out other causes of pain. You may be given anX-rayif they suspect that you have any broken bones in your rib cage.
Abdominal muscle strains are graded according to the severity of the injury:
Pulled Muscle vs. Appendicitis
A pulled stomach muscle on the right side can be mistaken forappendicitis. They both cause abdominal pain on the right side that worsens when you cough, sneeze, or move around.
Appendicitis pain, however, starts suddenly without an apparent cause and worsens in hours. Appendicitis also has additional symptoms like:
Pulled Muscle vs. Hernia
A strain in the lower abdominal muscles is sometimes referred to as a sports hernia, a soft-tissue injury in the lower abdomen or groin.
A sports hernia is different than aninguinalhernia, which occurs when tissues in the lower abdomen push through a hole in the abdominal muscles.
While both conditions cause pain and discomfort, an inguinal hernia will often cause a bulge in the area around the groin. However, a pulled ab muscle or sports hernia can lead to an inguinal hernia.
Treatment for a pulled muscle typically involves rest, ice, compression, and elevation.
However, treating an ab muscle strain is a little trickier. There’s no way to splint it, and it’s nearly impossible to rest your abs fully.
Initial treatment for an abdominal muscle strain includes the following:
After the first three days, you can applyice or moist heat(eg, a hot water bottle or a steam towel).Try gently stretching the muscles and gradually increasing your normal activities. Listen to your body’s cues; avoid movements that cause pain, and don’t overdo it.
Once the pain has resolved, you can slowly return to exercise. It may help to apply moist heat before exercising to loosen the muscle. Apply ice after exercise to reduce inflammation and ease post-exercise soreness.
Sometimes, a pulled abdominal muscle requires physical therapy or surgery to heal fully.
How Long Does It Take for a Pulled Ab Muscle to Heal?A pulled abdominal muscle can take a few weeks to a few months to fully heal, depending on the extent of the injury. A mild abdominal muscle strain can take a week or two weeks to heal, but more severe strains can take six weeks or longer.
How Long Does It Take for a Pulled Ab Muscle to Heal?
A pulled abdominal muscle can take a few weeks to a few months to fully heal, depending on the extent of the injury. A mild abdominal muscle strain can take a week or two weeks to heal, but more severe strains can take six weeks or longer.
When to See a Healthcare Provider
How to Prevent Reinjury
Summary
A mild strain should heal in a week or two, but more severe strains can take several months. If the pain is severe, impacts your ability to function, or does not show signs of improving after a week, see your healthcare provider. Physical therapy or surgery may sometimes be needed.
11 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Victoria State Government.Abdominal muscles.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sprains, strains, and other soft-tissue injuries.Lupowitz LG.Comprehensive approach to core training in sports physical therapy: optimizing performance and minimizing injuries.Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2023;18(4):800–6. doi:10.26603/001c.84525Kato K, Otoshi KI, Yabuki S, et al.Abdominal oblique muscle injury at its junction with the thoracolumbar fascia in a high school baseball player presenting with unilateral low back pain.Fukushima J Med Sci. 2020;67(1):49-52. doi:10.5387/fms.2020-27Kawama R, Ike A, Soma A, Hojo T, Wakahara T.Side-to-side difference in electromyographic activity of abdominal muscles during asymmetric exercises.J Sports Sci Med. 2022;21(4):493-503. doi:10.52082/jssm.2022.493American College of Sports Medicine.Sprains, strains, and tears.NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Symptoms and causes of appendicitis.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sports hernia (athletic pubalgia).Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.Strains (pulled muscle).U.S. National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Strains.Ruff AN, Cornelson SM, Panter AS, Kettner NW.Rectus abdominis muscle tear diagnosed with sonography and its conservative management.J Ultrasound. 2020;23(3):401-406. doi:10.1007/s40477-019-00416-y
11 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Victoria State Government.Abdominal muscles.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sprains, strains, and other soft-tissue injuries.Lupowitz LG.Comprehensive approach to core training in sports physical therapy: optimizing performance and minimizing injuries.Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2023;18(4):800–6. doi:10.26603/001c.84525Kato K, Otoshi KI, Yabuki S, et al.Abdominal oblique muscle injury at its junction with the thoracolumbar fascia in a high school baseball player presenting with unilateral low back pain.Fukushima J Med Sci. 2020;67(1):49-52. doi:10.5387/fms.2020-27Kawama R, Ike A, Soma A, Hojo T, Wakahara T.Side-to-side difference in electromyographic activity of abdominal muscles during asymmetric exercises.J Sports Sci Med. 2022;21(4):493-503. doi:10.52082/jssm.2022.493American College of Sports Medicine.Sprains, strains, and tears.NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Symptoms and causes of appendicitis.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sports hernia (athletic pubalgia).Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.Strains (pulled muscle).U.S. National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Strains.Ruff AN, Cornelson SM, Panter AS, Kettner NW.Rectus abdominis muscle tear diagnosed with sonography and its conservative management.J Ultrasound. 2020;23(3):401-406. doi:10.1007/s40477-019-00416-y
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Victoria State Government.Abdominal muscles.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sprains, strains, and other soft-tissue injuries.Lupowitz LG.Comprehensive approach to core training in sports physical therapy: optimizing performance and minimizing injuries.Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2023;18(4):800–6. doi:10.26603/001c.84525Kato K, Otoshi KI, Yabuki S, et al.Abdominal oblique muscle injury at its junction with the thoracolumbar fascia in a high school baseball player presenting with unilateral low back pain.Fukushima J Med Sci. 2020;67(1):49-52. doi:10.5387/fms.2020-27Kawama R, Ike A, Soma A, Hojo T, Wakahara T.Side-to-side difference in electromyographic activity of abdominal muscles during asymmetric exercises.J Sports Sci Med. 2022;21(4):493-503. doi:10.52082/jssm.2022.493American College of Sports Medicine.Sprains, strains, and tears.NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Symptoms and causes of appendicitis.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sports hernia (athletic pubalgia).Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.Strains (pulled muscle).U.S. National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Strains.Ruff AN, Cornelson SM, Panter AS, Kettner NW.Rectus abdominis muscle tear diagnosed with sonography and its conservative management.J Ultrasound. 2020;23(3):401-406. doi:10.1007/s40477-019-00416-y
Victoria State Government.Abdominal muscles.
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sprains, strains, and other soft-tissue injuries.
Lupowitz LG.Comprehensive approach to core training in sports physical therapy: optimizing performance and minimizing injuries.Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2023;18(4):800–6. doi:10.26603/001c.84525
Kato K, Otoshi KI, Yabuki S, et al.Abdominal oblique muscle injury at its junction with the thoracolumbar fascia in a high school baseball player presenting with unilateral low back pain.Fukushima J Med Sci. 2020;67(1):49-52. doi:10.5387/fms.2020-27
Kawama R, Ike A, Soma A, Hojo T, Wakahara T.Side-to-side difference in electromyographic activity of abdominal muscles during asymmetric exercises.J Sports Sci Med. 2022;21(4):493-503. doi:10.52082/jssm.2022.493
American College of Sports Medicine.Sprains, strains, and tears.
NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Symptoms and causes of appendicitis.
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Sports hernia (athletic pubalgia).
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.Strains (pulled muscle).
U.S. National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Strains.
Ruff AN, Cornelson SM, Panter AS, Kettner NW.Rectus abdominis muscle tear diagnosed with sonography and its conservative management.J Ultrasound. 2020;23(3):401-406. doi:10.1007/s40477-019-00416-y
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