Sports
Injuries : It's Easy to Injure Yourself By
James Anthony
 |
| Sports
injuries can be
dangerous, but there
are ways to
minimise
their impact |
Injuring yourself
is very easy to do - a bit of carelessness with a knife on the chopping
board, slipping as you attempt to jump into a pool, not watching where
you are walking, tripping over the cat or turning your ankle while
exercising, or on an uneven bit of path can cause injury.
The easiest way to avoid being cut is to be sensible with
chopping, but the others examples are less predictable. This
fellow nearly broke his ankle playing squash. It happens - you are
running for a shot, try to turn suddenly and, 'lo and behold, there is
a gut-wrenching pain as your foot goes on an almost
impossible-to-imagine angle, forced by the inertia of your movements.
You've sprained your ankle; the ligament that keeps your bones
together has been stretched and can't actuate the joint properly. And
it hurts. You get your breath back and then hobble
to the car, get home and what next? Well, the first and most important
thing with sprains and strains (a strain is where your muscles
pull/stretch) is to get ice on to the injury as soon as possible. It
can be icecubes in a tea towel, a packet of frozen vegetables, or a
gel-based ice pack. It doesn't matter, because the sooner you get the
area cold the less damage is being done. Usually
around 20 minutes at a time will see some
good results - you can gauge that by if your limb goes numb it's had
enough for the time being. Keep applying the ice pack every hour or so
and keep that going for up to three days if the injury is major, like
on a much-used limb joint, such as the elbow or ankle. Don't
put heat on to the sore area - as that can increase the internal
bleeding thereby worsening the bruising and the length of time to heal
- and avoid massage as that has the same effect. If
you like a beer after your sporting workout then that has to go by the
wayside too (at least initially), because alcohol will make the
swelling worse. After your icing efforts, doctors recommend you wrap
the affected area in a firm bandage. This will help immobilise the limb
and stop you using it too much (as if the pain doesn't tell you enough)
and again keep swelling down. Another suggestion
for reducing swelling is to raise the affected area above your heart
for the day or so. The easiest way is to lie on the couch, put a DVD on
and have your foot or arm on a cushion. Most of
this advice also works for bad knocks and severe bruising - like if you
have been caught under a scrum or been hip and shouldered by a 120-kilo
monster. Now you'll probably have guessed this but
if you sprain or strain something badly then you are going to be in a
lot of pain. Chemists recommend things like paracetamol or neurofen
(check with them about the appropriate use of these drugs) and
anti-inflammatory sprays or gels. Don't use
liniments for the first two days after the injury as this can also
increase bleeding. Once you have got over your
piece of bad luck - it took me some months as I did not ice adequately
enough - it is important to take more care of yourself. I always used
an ankle brace after that as it gives good strong support to the
now-weakened stress point. Warming up before
exercise is very important too - and take it gently - and also warm
down following your exertions. For example, if you've gone for a run,
don't jog all the way back to your front door, instead walk the last
500 metres or so. This gives your muscles time to relax before they go
into rest mode. Sports Injuries - Things
to Do: - Ice the injury as
soon as possible
- Avoid massage and
heat
- Strap it
- Keep
it elevated
Links:
 AIS - Australian Institute of Sport
Melbourne Sports Medicine Centre
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