Sports Injuries - Management + Prevention

Most common injuries:

• Sprains & strains
• Corked muscles
• Bruising
• Dislocations/Sub-luxation
• Cuts & Grazes
• Fractures

Sports injuries are usually categorized according to the cause of the injury; either direct, indirect or from overuse.
Direct Injury: An injury that is likely to be as a result of contact with another player, object or the ground.
Indirect Injury: An injury that is likely to be as a result of physical impact without contact, i.e straining a muscle from movement while running.
Overuse Injury: An injury is likely to be as a result of continual impact on a tendon or bone leading to detrimental wear & tear.


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 Injury                                              Signs and Symptoms                                      Possible Causes

soft tissue injury          :      Pain, Swelling, tenderness, bruising                : Contact, collision,
                                           reduced movement.                                           : overstretching
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Bruising                      : Tenderness, pain, discolouration                           :  Fall, contact
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Cuts/abrasions            : Bleeding, pain, stinging sensation                         :  "                 "
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Broken bones             : Pain, swelling, local tendon deformity, loss of      :  "                 "
                                     sensation, wound (if compound fracture)                         
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Nose bleeds               : Bleeding  from nostrils                                           : Contact, heat,  
                                                                                                                       spontaneous
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Cramps, Stitches       : Involuntary muscle spasm                                     : Dehydration, low fitness,
                                                                                                                      muscle fatigue
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Winded player          : Pain, difficulty breathing                                       : Blow to abdominal region
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Treating Soft Tissue Injuries: Use RICER

R- rest
I - ice     20 min on, 20 min off for every hour for 48 hours - don't put directly on skin - wet bag/towel
C - compression
E - elevation
R - referral

No HARM method : (Things to avoid) 48 - 72 hours directly after the injury

N
O
H - Heat    - Heat vaso-dilates blood vessels and therefore increases bloodflow, swelling, bruising
A - Alcohol
R - Running
M - Massage


Injury Assesment:
Use TOTAPS to assess injuries:

T - talk to the injured person. Find out what happened, What hurts? rate pain /10
O - Observe the affected area. Check the severity of injury
T- Touch - feel for pain, heat, cold
A - Active movement
P - Passive movement
S - Skills test