Suffering from Sports Injuries can drive a lot of discomfort to most of the individuals and may hamper their regular sports and physical activities. However, there are various diagnostic methods through which a doctor can determine the severity of your sports injury and accordingly advise the treatment protocol. The most crucial aspect to managing these injuries is following proper care and methods prescribed by your doctor. This blog piece will discuss the sports injury conditions deeply, while discussing the treatment and management options available to ease your pain.

Sports Injury Explained

People who participate in sports activities or are involved in any other similar physical activities, there are chances that they might suffer sports injuries, causing damage to any part of their body. The majority of sports injuries happen to athletes and can affect your body, causing damage to muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, and other structures. 

Symptoms

• Pain, Aches or Tenderness
• Bruising
• A deformity like unnatural joint or bone not in place
• Reduced mobility
• Clicking, cracking, grinding or popping sound
• Inability to support your hip foot or leg weight
• Skin feels warm to touch
• Weakness or Stiffness
• Swelling
• Problems moving an area of the body normally

Diagnosis

While a person comes across any sports injury, some may cause immediate discomfort or pain, while other injuries, like overuse injuries may only come to notice after a long-term damage. The sufferers usually discover these injuries during routine physical examinations and checkups.

If you believe you’ve suffered any sports injury, then these are some methods that your doctor will use to establish an accurate diagnosis:

Examining Physically- Physically examining the organ or any joint of the sufferer that he is not able to move or feeling pain would be the very first step that the doctor would apply during diagnosis. 

Medical History of the Sufferer- Next, the doctor may require you to analyze your injured condition and for that he might ask you a few questions regarding the mode of injuries you have sustained. Apart from this if required the doctor may get into your [previous medical history regarding the same condition, if necessary for the diagnosis.

Imaging Tests: Another diagnosis method that your medical expert may follow is recommending you to undergo imaging tests like X-ray, MRIs, etc. so that the he can analyze the affected condition from the inside.  All this forms a crucial part to confirm the diagnosis of a sports injury.

Treatment For Sports Injuries

The RICE procedure is a popular treatment method for sports injuries and could be the first thing that most of the specialists recommend. This denotes as:

• Rest
• Ice
• Compression
• Elevation

However, it is essential to mention that this method of treatment works great in the case of minor injuries to the body. The sufferer can recover and feel relaxed by following the RICE method for the initial 24 – 36 hours following the injury. It will help to decrease swelling and help prevent further bleeding and discomfort in the initial days following the injury.

Over-the-counter and based on prescription by the medical expert, the sufferer may use medications specifically mentioned by the doctor for this injury. If there’s something major and if you are not getting relief even after following the RICE method then hopefully you can expect relief from swelling and pain through the prescribed medications.

Other Treatment Options

Treatment for sports injuries may differ based on the degree of severity and type. A majority of sports injuries heal within few days or weeks after rest and home-based strategies.

For more serious injuries, treatment could require:

• Immobilization with a cast or a splint or sling, walking boot, or any other surgical device.
• Injections to minimize the pain and swelling.
• Anti-inflammatory medicines based on prescription.
• Procedures to repair fractures or fix ligaments, tendon, cartilage tear or bone.
• Physical therapy (also known as rehabilitation) to strengthen and heal the injured muscles & ligaments.

Rehabilitation

If the initial injury gets healed, one must rehabilitate the area prior to returning to the activities of sports. The rehabilitation process may include formal exercises that are carried out with the guidance of a trainer for athletes or more informal strengthening and conditioning performed without supervision. 

Sometimes, physical therapists provide instructions for exercises that athletes are able to perform independently. Therapists might integrate cold, heat electric stimulation, sound waves, water or traction as part of a treatment plan combination with the therapeutic exercises.

Prevention

Mentioned below are some ways that a person can follow to avoid sports injuries:

Follow The Correct Method

If you are practicing any sports, then you must be aware of the right method to perform that. Different kinds of exercises may require different postures and stances and thus applying the right position will help prevent injury to any part of your body.

Use Correct Equipment

While playing any sports, the person must ensure to wear the appropriate footwear and to wear the correct athletic gear. If you choose shoes or gear that aren’t properly fitted, you are posing yourself to the risk of sports injuries.

Don’t overdo it

If in any case you get injured, then ensure your healing at priority, before you begin playing again starting the exercise again. If you come back after taking your body off, you can ease back into your exercise routine or sport, rather than returning to the same level of intensity.

Cool down

Make sure to cool off after your workout and most of the time, this is done by doing the same exercises and stretching included in the warm-up at a reduced pace

Resume the activity gradually

After the initial 48-hour timeframe of RICE, you may begin slowly and then ease back into the exercise or sport of your preference.

Conclusion

Since we tried our best to cover every relatable aspect about Sports Injury in this piece for our readers, it is essential to note that visiting a trusted medical hospital for your treatment will maximize your process. If you let a sports injury go untreated, it may cause you to be sidelined for a longer period or prevent you from playing your sport at all. With the prevention guidelines that we mentioned above, you must be aware of the consequences like disuse atrophy and stiffness Moreover, if the symptoms get worse, seek medical assistance immediately. At Shanti Nursing Home & Super Speciality Hospital, the patient may expect highly-knowledgeable experts who provide absolute treatments for various tupes of sports injury conditions. With years of experience, they deeply analyze and determine the root cause of your injury and based on the analysis they treat the patients comfortably. Book an appointment today!