Injury Prevention and Rehab Flashcards
What is an acute injury?
A sudden injury associated with a traumatic event
What is a chronic injury?
A slowly developed injury associated with overuse
What is a hard tissue injury?
Damage to the bone, joint or cartilage, including fractures and dislocations
What is a soft tissue injury?
Damage to the skin, muscle, tendon or ligament, including tears, strains and sprains
What are some examples of Acute Hard tissue injuries?
- Fractures
- Dislocations
What is a fracture?
A partial or complete break in bone due to an excessive force that overcomes the bone’s potential to flex
What is the diffence between compound and simple fractures?
COMPOUND - the fractured bones themselves break through the skin, creating an open wond with a high risk of infection
SIMPLE - the skin remains unbroken as the fracture causes little movement of the bone and therefore minimises the damage to the soft tissue surrounding it
What are the 7 types of possible fracture and describe them?
GREENSTICK - a splitting partial break in the bone resulting from a bending action
TRANSVERSE - a crack horizontal across the length of the bone
OBLIQUE - a diagonal crack across the length of the bone
SPIRAL - a crack across the length of the bone caused by twisting
COMMINUTED - a crack producing multiple fragments of bone
IMPACTED - a break caused by the ends of a bone being compressed together
AVULSION - a bone fragment detached at the site of connective tissue attachment
What is the difference between an incomplete and a complete fracture?
COMPLETE = a total break in the bone which separates the bone into two or more
INCOMPLETE = a partial crack in the bone which doesn’t completely separate it
What is a dislocation?
The displacement of one bone from another out of their original position
What is a subluxation?
An incomplete or partial dislocation
What are some examples of Acute Soft tissue injuries?
- Contusion and haematoma
- Sprain
- Strain
- Abrasion
- Blister
- Concussion
What is a contusion?
A contusion, also known as a bruise, is an area of skin or tissue in which the blood vessels have ruptured (torn)
What is a haemotoma?
A localised congealed bleeding from the ruptured blood vessel
What is a sprain?
An overstretch or a tear in the ligament that connects bone to bone. It is usually caused by a sudden twist, impact or fall.
What are the signs/ symptoms of a sprain?
- pain
- swelling
- bruising
- inability to bear weight
- possible dislocation
What is a strain?
An overstretch or tear in the muscle or tendon that connects muscle to bone
What are the signs/ symptoms of a strain?
- pain on movement
- swelling
- discolouration/ bruising
What is an abrasion?
Superficial damage to the skin caused by a scraping action against a surface
What is a blister?
Friction, forming separation of layers of skin where a pocket of fluid forms
What is concussion?
A traumatic brain injury resulting in a disturbance of brain function
What can concussion be caused by?
Concussion can be caused by a direct blow to the head, or blows to other parts of the body which cause rapid movement of the head.
What are some symptoms of concussion?
- loss of consciousness
- balance problems
- disorientation
- headache
- nausea
- fatigue
- light sensitivity
What is an example of a Chronic Hard tissue injury?
Stress fracture
What is a stress fracture?
A tiny crack in the surface of a bone caused by overuse
What are some examples of Chronic Soft tissue injuries?
- shin splints
- achilles tendinosis
- tennis elbow
What is shin splints?
Inflammation or excessive loading stress in tibialis anterior
What is achilles tendinosis?
The deterioration of collagen in the achilles tendon
What is tennis elbow?
The deterioration of collagen in the elbow’s tendon
What are intrinsic injury risk factors and give some examples?
Intrinsic injury risk factors are injury risks or forces from inside the body.
- e.g individual variables/ training effects
What are some examples of individual variables?
- previous injury
- posture and alignment
- age
- nutrition
What are some examples of training effects?
- poor preparation
- inadequate fitness
- inappropriate flexability
What are extrinsic injury risk factors and give some examples?
Extrinsic injury risk factors are injury risks or forces from outside the body.
- e.g. poor training/ incorrect equipment/ inappropriate overload
Why is poor training a risk?
Overuse injuries are largely caused by by performing repetative actions with poor biomechanical technique. Coaches play a critical role in injury prevention by teaching the correct technique, warm up routines and practices appropriate for the age and ability of the player.
Why can incorrect equipment and clothing be a risk factor?
- Athletes need to use equipment which is age, stature and ability related. Incorrect equipment could lead to the onset of an injury.
- Athletes may also need to wear protective equipment to minimise risk of injury to vunerable parts of the body. This equipment should be age and size appropiate.
- Athletes must wear sport-specific clothing to maximise performance while reducing the risk of injury
- Footwear is also designed for the demands of the sport and/or surface of the ground
Why is innapropriate intensity, duration or frequency a risk?
Progressive overload ensures the athlete is pushed beyond their comfort zone to force and adaptation, however the stress placed upon the body must be appropriate for the individuals age, ability, stature and injury status
What is the importance of a warm up?
A warm up is performed to raise body temperature and prepare an athlete physiologically for an activity to minimise the risk of injury and maximise performane.
What are the principles of an ideal warm up?
- 20-45 minutes
- gradual increase of intensity
- 3 stages (HR raiser, stretching, sport specific drills)
What is the importance of a cool down?
A cool down is performed to maintain heart rate, blood flow and metabolic activity to flush the muscle tissue with oxygenated blood, thus removing waste products and starting the healing process.
What are the principles of an effective cool down?
- 20-30 minutes
- gradual decrease in intensity
- 2 stages (active recovery, stretching)
What does DOMS stand for, and what does it mean?
Delayed onset muscle soreness
- Pain and stiffness felt in the muscle, which peaks 24 - 72 hours after exercise
What does DOMS stand for, and what does it mean?
Delayed onset muscle soreness
- Pain and stiffness felt in the muscle, which peaks 24 - 72 hours after exercise
What is DOMS caused by?
DOMS is caused by micro-injury to the muscle fibres and requires time to heal, symptoms to subside, and muscle fibres to adapt to the new stresses placed upon them.
What does SALTAPS stand for?
S - Stop
A - Ask
L - Look
T - Touch
A - Active movement
P - Passive movement
S - Strength testing
What protocol do we use to treat acute injuries?
PRICE
What does PRICE stand for?
P - Protect
R - Rest
I - Ice
C - Compress
E - Elevate
What protocol do we use when treating a concussion?
6 R’s
What are the 6 R’s and describe them?
- Recognise - Be aware of signs/ symptoms
- Remove - Remove from play immediately
- Refer - Must be referred to a qualified professional immediately
- Rest - Must rest until symptom free
- Recover - 2 + weeks out
- Return - Player must be symptom free and have written permission
What is rehabilitation?
The process of restoring full physical function after an injury has occurred.
What are the 3 stages of rehabilitation?
- Early stage (gentle exercise)
- Mid stage (progressive loading)
- Late stage (functional exercises and drills)
What are some treatment methods?
- Stretching
- Massage
- Cold, heat and contrast therapies
- Anti - inflammatory drugs
- Physiotherapy
- Surgery
What stretches need to be done at each phase?
ACUTE PHASE - within the first 3 days of an injury, no stretching should occur
MID PHASE - For up to 2 weeks, heat therapy and gentle static and passive stretching have proven to speed up recovery
LATER PHASE - PNF stretches are added to the continued static and passive stretching
What is massage therapy?
A physical therapy used for injury prevention and soft tissue injury treatment
What can sports massage do?
- move fluid and nutrients through damaged tissue to encourage healing and accelerate the removal of waste products
- stretch tissues, releasing tension and pressure and improving elasticity
- break down scar tissue from previous injuries that can lead to inflexible tissues, injury and pain
- reduce pain and generate heat, circulation and relaxation
What is cold therapy?
Applying ice, or cold, to an injury or after exercise for a therapeutic effect, such as reduced swelling
What is heat therapy?
Applying heat to an area before training for a therapeutic effect, such as increased blood flow
What is contrast therapy?
The use of alternate cold and heat for a therapeutic effect, such as increase blood flow
What do anti-inflammatory drugs do?
The are taken to reduce inflammation, temperature and pain following injury
What can long-term use of anti-inflammatory drugs cause?
- gastro-intestinal bleeding
- shock
- anaemia
- stroke
- heart attack
What is physiotherapy?
Physical treatment of injuries and disease using methods such as mobilisation, massage, exercise therapy and postural training
What is a physiotherapy programme likely to look like?
- Pain relief, minimise swelling, ice therapy
- Tailored exercises
- Restoring normal range of motion
What are the 2 main categories of surgical procedure?
- Arthroscopy (keyhole surgery)
- Open surgery
What is arthroscopy?
A minimally invasive surgical procedure to examine and repair damage within a joint. It is typically used to repair cartilage and soft tissue damage.
What is open surgery?
An incision is made to open a joint to repair or reconstruct damaged structures. It is typically used to repair fractures and reconstruct ankles.
How can fractures be treated?
- PRICE
- Sling/ cast
- Anti-inflammatory drugs
- Potentially surgery
How can joint injuries be treated?
- Sling/ immobilisation
- PRICE
- Anti-inflammatory drugs
- Potential for surgery
How can a sprain be treated?
- PRICE
- Immobilisation
- Anti-inflammatory drugs
- Rehabilitation
How can torn cartilage be treated?
- PRICE
- Anti-inflammatory drugs
- Physiotherapy
- Brace for stability
- Hydrotherapy
- Arthroscopy
