Option 3 - Sports Medicine Flashcards
What are the ways to classify sports injuries?
- Direct or indirect
- Soft or hard tissues
- Overuse
What is a direct or indirect injury? give examples
Direct injuries are sustained by an external force, causing bruises, blisters, fractions and dislocations.
- Tackle in football -> shoulder dislocation (hard)
- Hockey player collision -> bruising of the arm (soft)
Indirect injuries are sustained from an internal force, generated by muscles or transferred from outside, causing sprains and strains of muscles, tendons and ligaments
- Occur due to inadequate warm up, ballistic movement, excessive movement, poor skill execution
- Sprinter tearing a hamstring during a race (soft)
- Incorrect landing from a volleyball spike -> sprain ankle (hard)
What is a soft or hard tissues injury? Give examples
Soft tissues injuries are damage to all body tissues beside bone and teeth, including muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin and organs
- Acute: occurring suddenly e.g. sprain, fractures
- Chronic: developed gradually e.g. tennis elbow, swimmer’s shoulder
- Sprinter tearing a hamstring during a race (indirect)
Hard tissue include injuries to the skeleton: bone or teeth
- Fractures, dislocations, loss of teeth
- More serious than soft injuries
- Tackle in football -> shoulder dislocation (Direct)
What is an overuse injury? Give examples
Injuries caused by repetitive use of joints or body areas causing pain and inflammation
- Caused by internal forces and provoked by repetitive, low impact exercise e.g. jogging (repetitive stress)
- Develops over time due to insufficient recovery between repeated action
- Begin as small injuries, poor technique, constant repetition of movement -> larger injury
- Contribute to stress fractures: small incomplete bone fractures
- Anterior shin splints
- Tendonitis
What is an overuse injury? Give examples
Injuries caused by repetitive use of joints or body areas causing pain and inflammation
- Caused by internal forces and provoked by repetitive, low impact exercise e.g. jogging (repetitive stress)
- Develops over time due to insufficient recovery between repeated action
- Begin as small injuries, poor technique, constant repetition of movement -> larger injury
- Contribute to stress fractures: small incomplete bone fractures
- Anterior shin splints
- Tendonitis
What is involved in soft tissue injuries?
- Tears, sprains and contusions
- Skin abrasions, lacerations, blisters
- Inflammatory response
Outline tears, sprains and contusions
Tears: When tissue is excessively stretched or severed, including ligament sprains and muscle strains
Strain: Stretching or tearing a muscle or tendon
- Results in sharp pain, discolouration
- Caused by internal forces, poor technique, or overtraining
- E.g., Pulled hamstring
Sprain: Stretching or tearing a ligament
- Results in pain, swelling, joint immobility
- Caused by external forces or joint being bent in an incorrect direction
- Classified: grade 1 (small tear) grade 2 (moderate tear), grade 3 (complete tear) requiring surgery
- E.g., ACL rupture
Contusion: or bruises are capillaries that have been ruptured
- Results in internal bleeding as blood flow to surrounding tissue is interrupted and a haematoma (blood tumour) forms as blood clots
- Caused by an external force crushing the soft tissue
- E.g. Baseball impacting an arm, causing a bruise
Outline skin abrasions, lacerations and blisters
Forms of skin trauma from application of force on the outer layer of skin
Skin abrasion: (graze) Scraping or wearing away of skin usually from athletes falling on dry, hard surfaces, causing pain, shallow bleeding, embedded with foreign material.
E.g. grazed knee from slide tackle in soccer
Laceration: Deep/irregular cut or tear to the flesh from contact with a sharp device.
E.g. Cut from an ice-hockey skate
Blisters: Collection of fluid below or within the epidermis causing intense pain, occur when new equipment is worn, overuse of equipment, sudden direction changes (friction)
Outline the immediate treatment of skin abrasions, lacerations and blisters
- Treatment Goal: avoid blood loss/infection control
- Use gloves, sterile bandages, avoid cross infection, control bleeding, seek medical attention if severe
Skin abrasion/ lacerations:
- Clean the wound using gloves
- Wash with disinfectant
- Apply non-stick dressing with pressure to control bleeding
- Manage blood loss
- Ice can be used if bleeding doesn’t stop, medical attention
- Medical attention, stiches surgery
Blisters:
- Rest, cover with padding and remove friction, allow to heal
- Surgically release fluid and apply donut pad
- Wash with soap and warm water, liquid antiseptic
- Dried and ointment applied
- Second skin dressing
Outline the inflammatory response
Natural self-healing reaction in response to injury and infection
- Lasts 3-4 days after injury
Phase 1: Acute inflammation
- 2-3 days
- Inflammation is fast and painful
- Vasodilation: blood vessels expand, greater permeability allowing more blood to enter and fluid to exit damaged tissues -> pain/swelling
- Secondary damage to the area
- Loss of function (swelling)
- RICER
Phase 2: Repair inflammation
- 3 days to 6 weeks
- Body begins to fix the damaged or injured site
- Leukocytes (WBC) eliminate debris and fight infection
- Production of scar tissue
Phase 3: Remodeling inflammation
- 6 weeks to months
- Rebuild the injured area
- Scar tissues is produced, new functional body tissue is developed and strengthened
- Balance of exercise is important: Too much exercise -> further injury, too much rest-> overproduction of scar tissue, limiting strength and flexibility
Outline and justify the RICER soft tissue injury management plan
Rest
- Prevents further injury and damage, ensuring inflammatory response is not simulated
- Stop playing the sport or doing the exercise
- Rest injured area in comfortable and supported position, do not move joint
Ice
- Reduces pain, swelling, inflammation
- Applied asap through ice pack, gel pack or cryotherapy
- 20 minutes every 2 hours
Compression
- Reduces bleeding and controls the inflammatory response, stabilises the joint
- Reduces movement, limiting re-injury provide support
- Application of tightly wrapped bandage or garment around injured area both above and below site
- Reapply every 24 hrs
Elevation
- Decreases bleeding, swelling throbbing
- Raise injured area above the heart, placing support under the injury
- 2-3 days
Referral
- Understand nature and extent of injury, guidance for rehabilitation to improve recovery and prevent further injury
- Contact health or medical profession (GP or Physiotherapist)
- GPs provide anti-inflammatory drug -> reduce pain and inflammation which can cause further damage
- For effective rehabilitation
- Rest should be active -> maintain physical condition
- Ice shouldn’t be applied to cuts and badly damaged skin
- Ice applied until it feels numb, always having padding between ice and skin
Outline hard tissue injuries
Fractures
- A break in the bone
- Simple fracture (closed): bone breaks but remains underneath the skin
- Compound fracture (open): bone breaks and protrudes through the skin
- Greenstick (one sided crack), oblique (angled crack), comminuted (shattered)
- Swelling, deformity, pain, breaking sound, bleeding
Dislocation
- displacement of a bone at a joint, stretching or rupturing the ligament
- May pop back into correct position ‘subluxation’ but usually requires medical professional to reinsert correctly, never attempt to relocate -> further damage
- Deformity, swelling, pain, loss of function
- E.g., finger dislocation
Outline management of hard tissue injuries
Fractures
- DRSABCD
- Control bleeding
- Treat shock
- Immobilise via splint and bandage
- Medical assistance
- Ice, elevate support with bandage
- Immediate medical attention
