August 20, 2025
Understanding strain and sprain injuries
This is the first in a five-part series of blog posts recapping our webinar, Preventing strains and sprains.
The start of SFM’s webinar focused on understanding strain and sprain injuries.
Sarah Wahlberg, Senior Claims Representative at SFM, discussed the differences between the two maladies. While both are soft-tissue injuries, strains are an injury to a muscle or tendon; sprains are injuries or tears to ligaments.
She continued her portion of the presentation with:
- Symptoms
- Identifying sprains and strains
- Frequency and type by industry
Wahlberg, who has more than a decade of experience in the field, wrapped up her segment with SFM claims data, which shows:
- A 14% increase in strain and sprain severity from 2023-24
- 60% increase in in costs for workers 45 and older
- 83% of reported back injuries are a result of strains and sprains
Check out the complete recording of the webinar and view other posts in our blog series highlighting the presentation.
