Treatment of sports injuries is based on the RICE principle:
- Rest
- Ice
- Compression
- Elevation
Rest stops new injury and bleeding. Ice eases pain and reduces inflammation by constricting the blood vessels. Elevation and compression limit the amount of swelling and fluid accumulation around the injured area.
Ice should be crushed to better conform to your shape. It should be placed in a bag that is wrapped around the injury. First, put a towel between the bag and the skin. Then, wrap a bandage around the icebag, not so tight as to cut off blood flow. Ice only constricts blood vessels for about 10 minutes, after which they "rebound." For very new or traumatic injuries you should leave the ice in place for only 10 minutes at a time, removing it for the same period. Alternate like this for an hour or two, keeping the injury elevated all the time.
You should carry out this procedure several times during the first day or so after injury. Following this, ice can be used for longer periods to better reduce swelling and pain. You can apply ice for up to 30 minutes several times a day. Packages of frozen peas or corn are excellent ready-made ice packs. If the injury is in the leg or ankle, don't try to stand up the first day, and do your best to keep it elevated as much as possible.
There is also some evidence for using chiropractic techniques, such as manipulative therapy and full kinetic chain or exercise therapy, to help manage ankle sprains.
If there's some other exercise you can perform that doesn't stress your injured part, you can do that to remain fit, but don't try to use the injured part until healing is well along. Then you can start light exercises to get it back in shape. In the long run, you may want to exercise it more to make it stronger, in order to prevent repeat occurrences. A doctor or physiotherapist might recommend specific exercises to strengthen particular muscles and tendons.
Other treatments include surgery and steroid injections. Surgery is an extreme measure and one you're unlikely to need if you treat injuries with respect. Steroid injections can relieve pain but may delay healing. They can be safely used once or twice, but should never be used as a cure-all or a first resort.
There are two ways you can prevent sports injuries. One is by using the right equipment. This means properly-fitting, sport-specific shoes and may mean orthotics (shoe inserts) to control excessive movement of the foot. Orthotics may reduce the width of your footwear, so you may need new shoes. Helmets, face masks, and protective padding made to regulation and worn as instructed prevent many serious sport injuries.
Correct technique is important to prevent injury. For example, tennis players should avoid racquets with excessively narrow shafts and try to perform backhand and forehand shots with their whole arm and shoulder rather than just the wrist. Racquet strings shouldn't be too tight. Wet, heavy balls are more likely to cause problems, as is hitting the ball off-centre.
The second way of preventing injury is by warming up and cooling down with adequate stretching. The best medical evidence suggests that warming up definitely makes the muscles stronger and more injury resistant. Stretching improves muscle performance but not injury resistance, so it is most effective after exercise. Don't stretch so far that it becomes painful. Cooling down may help prevent dizziness from blood pooling in dilated (widened) leg veins, but it doesn't help muscle soreness the next day, which is caused by injury to the fibres.
All strenuous exercise involves microscopic damage to individual muscle fibres. Exercise works because they tend to heal stronger than before. You must give them 48 hours to heal. You shouldn't vigorously exercise the same muscle in two successive days, as you'll be damaging it faster than it can heal. If you want to exercise every day, you should either work on different muscle groups on alternate days or do "strength-training" exercises one day and cardiovascular exercises the next. Following these recommendations should allow you to enjoy regular and injury-free exercise.
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