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Sports
Injuries - How To Drastically Cut Recovery Time
Running
Injuries, Sports Injuries & Treatment for Pulled Muscles
A guide to cutting your recovery time by days, if not weeks!
I get a lot of questions from people asking about specific treatments
for sports injuries, like running injuries and other common
pulled muscle complaints. The unfortunate thing about most of
these requests is that the injury occurred some time ago. This
time lapse between the injury occurring, and treatment sort,
is the biggest stumbling block to a full and complete recovery.
As always, before I sit down to write this newsletter,
I like to spend a few hours surfing the net for information
that relates to the topic I'm going to write about. In most
cases, I find a great deal of useful information that relates
to what I'm looking for; but not this time.
What I did find, was a lot of information which
related to treating specific sports injuries long after they'd
occurred. However, I found very little information relating
to the immediate treatment of sports injuries. This was quite
disappointing, because if people are only treating injuries
long after they've occurred, they're really putting themselves
at a great disadvantage.
What follows is a complete three part series
of the most appropriate initial treatments for all soft tissue,
sports injuries. This information will definitely cut your recover
time by days, if not weeks.
Before we start!
Lets have a quick look at the type of injuries
I'm talking about. The type of sports injuries I'm referring
to here are the soft tissue injuries, which are very common
in most, if not all sports. These injuries include sprains,
strain, tears and bruises which affect muscles, tendons, ligaments
and joints. The soft tissues of the body.
Examples of common soft tissue injuries would
include things like hamstring tears, sprained ankles, pulled
calf muscles, strained shoulder ligaments, corked thigh, etc.
Remember a sprain refers to a tear or rupture of the ligaments,
while a strain refers to a tear or rupture of the muscles or
tendons.
The sort of injuries I'm NOT talking about here
are injuries which affect the head, neck, face or spinal cord.
Injuries which involve shock, excessive bleeding, or bone fractures
and breaks. The treatment of these type of injuries goes way
beyond the relatively simple soft tissue injuries that I'm discussing
here.
Priority Number 1
The first priority when treating any sports
injury is, "Do No Further Damage." So before we get
into the treatment of soft tissue injuries, there's one important
point that I should discuss first.
Before you start treating any injury, whether
to yourself or someone else, first STOP and take account of
what has occurred. Consider things like; ..is the area safe
from other dangers? ..is there a threat to life? ..is the injury
serious enough to seek emergency help?
Then, using the word STOP as an acronym;
S:
(stop) Stop the injured person from moving. Consider stopping
the sport or game if necessary.
T:
(talk) Ask questions like; ..what happened? ..how did it happen?
..what did it feel like? ..where does it hurt? ..have you
injured this part before?
O:
(observe) Look for things like swelling, bruising, deformity
and tenderness.
P:
(prevent) Remember, do no further damage. Prevent further
injury.
Once you've taken a few moments to make sure
the injury isn't life threatening, it's then time to start treating
the injury. Remember, the sooner you start treating a sports
injury, the more chance you have of a full and complete recovery.
The longer you wait, the worse it's going to be.
R.I.C.E.R.
Without a doubt, the most effective, initial
treatment for soft tissue injuries is the R.I.C.E.R. regime.
This involves the application of (R) rest, (I) ice, (C) compression,
(E) elevation and obtaining a (R) referral for appropriate medical
treatment.
Where the R.I.C.E.R. regime has been used immediately
after the occurrence of an injury, it has been shown to significantly
reduce recovery time. R.I.C.E.R. forms the first, and perhaps
most important stage of injury rehabilitation, providing the
early base for the complete recovery of injury.
When a soft tissue injury occurs there is a
large amount of uncontrolled bleeding around the injury site.
This excessive bleeding causes swelling, which puts pressure
on nerve endings and results in increased pain. It is exactly
this process of bleeding, swelling and pain which the R.I.C.E.R.
regime will help to alleviate. This will also limit tissue damage
and help the healing process.
The "How To"
R:
(rest) It is important that the injured area be kept as still
as possible. If necessary support the injured area with a
sling or brace. This will help to slow down blood flow to
the injured area and prevent any further damage.
I:
(ice) By far the most important part. The application of ice
will have the greatest effect on reducing bleeding, swelling
and pain. Apply ice as soon as possible after the injury has
occurred.
How
do you apply ice? Crushed ice in a plastic bag is usually
best. However, blocks of ice, commercial cold packs and bags
of frozen peas will all do fine. Even cold water from a tap
is better than nothing at all.
When
using ice, be careful not to apply it directly to the skin.
This can cause "ice burns" and further skin damage.
Wrapping the ice in a damp towel generally provides the best
protection for the skin.
How
long? How often? This is the point where few people agree.
Let me give you some figures to use as a rough guide, and
then I'll give you some advice from personal experience. The
most common recommendation is to apply ice for 20 minutes
every 2 hours for the first 48 to 72 hours.
These
figures are a good starting point, but remember they're only
a guide. You must take into account that some people are more
sensitive to cold than others. Also be aware that children
and elderly people have a lower tolerance to ice and cold.
Finally, people with circulatory problems are also more sensitive
to ice. Remember to keep these things in mind when treating
yourself or someone else with ice.
Personally,
I recommend that people use their own judgement when applying
ice to themselves. For some people, 20 minutes is way too
much. For others, especially well conditioned athletes, they
can leave ice on for up to an hour at a time. The individual
should make the decision as to how long the ice should stay
on.
My
personal recommendation is that people should apply ice for
as long as it is comfortable. Obviously, there will be a slight
discomfort from the cold, but as soon as pain or excessive
discomfort is experienced, it's time to remove the ice. It's
much better to apply ice for 3 to 5 minutes a couple of time
an hour, than not at all.
C:
(compression) Compression actually achieves two things. Firstly,
it helps to reduce both the bleeding and swelling around the
injured area, and secondly, it provides support for the injured
area. Simply use a wide, firm, elastic, compression bandage
to cover the injured part. Make sure you bandage both above
and below the injured area.
E:
(elevation) Simply raise the injured area above the level
of the heart at all possible times. This will further help
to reduce the bleeding and swelling.
R:
(referral) If the injury is severe enough, it is important
that you consult a professional physical therapist or a qualified
sports doctor for an accurate diagnosis of the injury. With
an accurate diagnosis, you can then move onto a specific rehabilitation
program to further reduce your injury time.
Before we finish up, there are a few things
which you must avoid during the first 24 to 72 hours after an
injury. Be sure to avoid any form of heat at the injury site.
This includes heat lamps, heat creams, spa's, Jacuzzi's and
sauna's.
Avoid all movement and massage of the injured
area. Also avoid excessive alcohol. All these things will increase
the bleeding, swelling and pain of your injury. Avoid them at
all costs.
Article
by Brad Walker. Brad is a leading stretching and sports
injury
consultant with over 15 years experience in the health and
fitness industry. For more articles on the prevention & treatment
of sports injury, subscribe to The Stretching & Sports
Injury Newsletter by visiting http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com
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