Quadricep Strain?

[lau182]

I was playing softball two days ago and in the first play of the game I had to run to third base to catch a ball. As I was running I felt my quadricep in my left leg just give out and I felt excrutiating pain. I tried to walk it off, but it hurt so bad that I had to be takin out of the game. During the whole game the pain just radiated from the pelvis area to my knee and I couldn't walk without help. Since then I have been doing the RICE method.Yesterday, it didn't feel too horrible. I was able to walk on it without it hurting too bad. Today though, I woke up and was in tears because it was extremely painful and pretty hard to walk on. I have been taking pain reliever and icing it, but it still hurts extremely bad to walk on. I did some research and I think it may be a quadricep strain but I don't when is a right time to go to a doctor or whatnot and I don't know how extensive the injury is. I don't know what else I should do, and how long this kind of injury takes to heal. Can you help me out?

[Heidi]

Hi
Is there any bruising or swelling? If it is a quad strain then with the amount of pain you are describing it would be at lest a grade 2+ injury and in which case there is usually some bruising develop (usually lower than the injury point).
With this kind of injury I would give it a maximum of a weeks rest and ice treament and if not improvement, definitely visit your Doctor or a sports injury professional.