Responding wisely to sports injury

This is a blog to create a "prosperous life" with you.

I often watch Premier League matches. I've seen the game of Son Heung-min from Tottenham.

However, he collides with an opponent and falls down. Then he grabs his ankle with his hand and makes a painful expression. For those who like sports, even the smallest mistakes can cause great pain.

How to deal with sports injuries find out what you do

---

1. What is a sports injury (Musculo-skeletal injury)?

① Sports injury (Musculo-skeletal injury) refers to damage to the muscle and skeletal system during accidents that can occur in sports activities.

② In addition, any type of damage that occurs while performing a favorite sport activity, which causes a part of the body to not function normally, is accompanied by pain, and requires a certain amount of time to treat is called sports injury.

③ In general, the most representative musculoskeletal injuries that can occur during sports activities are called sports injuries.

④ If you have a sprain, you tend to think simply, but if you do not stabilize and fix it enough, you will suffer unexpectedly and leave aftereffects.

---

2. Cause

The causes of sports injuries include direct or indirect trauma, overuse, and environmental factors. Among them, trauma and overuse mainly cause musculoskeletal sports injuries.

---

3. Symptoms of Sports Injury

① Sudden pain is accompanied by a disorder that makes it difficult to move the arms, legs, or trunk.

② The skin turns black due to swelling or bruising. And certain areas may swell.

③ In addition, there are cases where bleeding occurs and sufficient acupressure and hemostasis are required.

④ Since the signs of a sprain overlap with those of a fracture, it is often difficult to differentiate between a non-displaced fracture and a sprain. The important thing is to keep in mind that even if it is thought to be a sprain, there is a possibility of a fracture.

⑤ For fractures, dislocations or sprains, it is necessary to promptly receive an accurate examination at the emergency center.

---

4. Examples of Sports Injury

Although almost any part of the body can be damaged during a sports game or exercise, most sports injuries are damage to the musculoskeletal system such as muscles, tendons (tendons), ligaments, bones, and cartilage. Joint sprains, fractures and dislocations are examples of common sports injuries.

① Sprain

A sprain is when ligaments, the connective tissue that connects bones, are stretched or torn. It occurs when a joint is bent due to a fall or external force, and the degree of damage is classified as a third degree tear ranging from a first degree sprain in which the ligament is slightly stretched to a complete tear. The most common places for sprains are the ankle joint, the knee joint, and the wrist joint. The injured area shows symptoms such as pain and tenderness when pressed, swelling (swelling), and joint laxity or instability.

② Fracture

Fractures can be classified into acute fractures caused by a strong one-time external force (acute fractures) or bone dislocations that occur over time due to repetitive stress (stress fractures). Acute fractures can be further classified into simple fractures and compound fractures according to the degree of comminution of the fracture. In the case of compound fractures, there is a risk of malunion and nonunion, so care must be taken in treatment. Stress fractures usually occur in the feet or legs when they are subjected to repetitive stress, such as in athletes who run or jump a lot. Fractures are characterized by pain that worsens with weight bearing, tenderness, and painful swelling.

③ Dislocation

Dislocation refers to the case where the joint, where the bones meet, is separated, and it mainly occurs in contact sports such as soccer or basketball or sports that receive blows. Most of the dislocated joints require immediate reduction to adjust them to their original joint condition, and often occur in the elbow joint or shoulder joint rather than the knee joint or hip joint. [Source] Korea Policy Briefing (www.korea.kr)

---

5. Classification of sports injury

① Acute damage

It can occur due to external factors such as direct trauma due to collisions between players or equipment, and internal factors such as rental sprains or muscle ruptures. After the acute injury has stabilized to a certain extent, a gradual exercise program is required so that the damaged part can recover to its normal function. Administer exercise therapy.

② Overuse injury

Generally caused by repetitive transmission of force that is lower than the force that can cause acute damage to the skeletal system, and is caused by fatigue effects over a long period of time that exceed the recovery capacity of tissues in the human body. In addition, treatment methods such as electrical stimulation therapy, cold therapy, hot therapy, ultrasound, and massage may be used.

---

6. First aid

1) Ice cold compress

① Get a plastic bag that can be easily obtained nearby. Add a fist-sized amount of ice along with the water.

② Remove the air in the plastic bag, tie it well, and tie the ends together to wrap it with a cloth such as a towel.

③ Place it on the injured area and start steaming.

 

2) How to apply cold compresses well

① When massaging the joints, massage as if drawing a circle.

② Cold compresses are more effective the more frequently they are applied for 24-48 hours after the injury, but it is not advisable to apply cold compresses for more than 20 minutes at a time.

③ You feel cold at first, but you immediately feel a burning sensation, followed by pain and numbness within 5-7 minutes. Please note that if the skin turns white or blue, it is easy to cause frostbite, so you must immediately stop applying cold compresses.

④ Do not put an ice pack on the back (outside) side of the knee because the nerve passes through it.

⑤ Circulatory disease, Raynaud's disease (a disease with poor circulation due to spasm of the arteries of the extremities), allergy to cold, and parts that have suffered frostbite in the past should not be iced.

⑥ Apply ice 3 to 4 times a day within the first 24 hours after injury, and it is okay to continue up to 48 hours.

 

3) Effects of cold compresses

① The low-temperature effect of cold compresses slows down metabolism within cells, reducing inflammation and swelling caused by damage.

② It reduces internal bleeding by constricting blood vessels in the damaged area.

③ It has a local anesthetic effect, so it has an analgesic effect that eliminates pain in the damaged area.

④ It has the effect of relieving muscle spasm in the damaged area.

---

7. Prevention

Warming up and stretching are important procedures and signals that inform the beginning and end of exercise. This is because if you exercise without warming up and stretching, there is a high possibility of damaging your body. In that respect, warming up and stretching are indispensable processes in exercise.

① Warm-up

t's easy to understand if you think of track and field athletes walking in place or jogging lightly before a match, boxers jumping rope before a match, or doing shadow boxing according to the trainer's instructions. This action not only warms the body, but also increases the level of excitement in the cerebral motor center, prepares for intense exercise or mental pressure, and improves cardiorespiratory function. It is also a necessary preparation process to easily overcome the pain of the body immediately after exercise, that is, the ‘dead point’.

② Stretching

It is a process that prepares muscles, tendons, joints, etc. for the main exercise. This is a necessary process to properly tense or relax the body according to the exercise characteristics to enhance the exercise effect and prevent injury. This kind of stretching can be done by lightly pulling the tendons and muscles without elasticity or rebound. To do this, stretch out slowly enough to feel slight pain in the muscle and tendon, and then hold it for 10 to 30 seconds. The effect of stretching is to give elasticity to tendons and muscles, and increase flexibility by widening the range of motion of joints.