Your quadriceps are the four muscles that cover your anterior thigh. It is a muscle group that acts together to extend your legs while straightening your knees. It is not rare to suffer sometimes from pulls or tears, because of abrupt movements. Pain is always following this kind of injury. Muscle spasm, or knots in the muscle, are also very common symptoms of a quad injury.

A pulled quadriceps is often the result of a strength imbalance between the quadriceps and the hamstring. Such an imbalance is not uncommon among runners, since running tends to work out the hamstrings much more than the quadriceps. Quad injury is graded using the 1-3 scale, with grade 1 strains being the least severe, and grade 3 being the worst. Depending on the severity of the strain, you may be able to feel a defect in the muscle, or a hole where the tear is. Preventing quadriceps strains involves a good warm up and always stretching before engaging in muscular activity.

Rest, Ice, Compression and elevation are the best immediate treatment for all pulls and strains. Also, an anti-inflammatory can be helpful to reduce pain and inflammation. But it is not as good to rely on drugs as it is to do with a proper training routine that always involves stretching sessions of about 10 minutes at least.