Today, together with the representative of Pharmacy Mall Bionapcfa, we are going to explain the essence of sport injuries. Let’s start from the very beginning. Firstly, we should define what sport injuries are.
What are sport injuries?
Sports-related injury is damage to any part of the body that occurs during sports or physical exercises. Such injuries have specifics both in treatment and prevention.
Classification of injuries
- Damage to the joint capsule and ligaments;
- Muscle and tendon damage;
- Bruise;
- Dislocation or subluxation;
- Bone fracture;
- Abrasion (scratch);
- Torn (open wound);
- Concussion;
- Infection or inflammation.
Causes of sport injuries
The direct cause of injuries is collisions, bumps, falls. Overloads can also cause injury. For example, sudden overstrain or stretching, when the muscles are not warmed up, can provoke tissue damage during training. A violation of safety regulations, training in unsuitable equipment plays a role. A painful condition (after acute illnesses or exacerbation of chronic ones) is associated with general weakness, so sports can also cause injury.
First aid
Keep in mind that not every injury is accompanied by acute symptoms, which does not mean that the injury is not complicated. Even in the absence of complaints, there may be a condition requiring urgent surgical treatment.
Self-correction of dislocation, comparison of bones in case of fracture is strictly prohibited.
Properly provided first aid will help minimize the consequences of injury. First of all, it is necessary to ensure immobility in order to avoid even more injury. Then it is necessary to stop the pain with any anesthetic, stop the bleeding, apply cold and a sterile bandage to the wound and deliver the athlete to the hospital as soon as possible.
Modern methods of treatment
Patient care begins with a diagnosis to determine the nature of the injury and the severity of the damage. The doctor will prescribe MRI, CT, radiography, ultrasound, encephalography and other research methods if necessary.
Sports injuries are treated in two ways: conservatively and surgically.
Treatment of sports injuries
As defined by Pharmacy Mall Bionapcfa representative, conservative treatment consists in the use of medicines internally and externally – gels, ointments, plasters, injections of drugs. Physiotherapy procedures are used – paraffin therapy, electrophoresis, UHF, electrostimulation of muscles.
Surgical treatment is aimed at restoring the integrity of the damaged limb or body part.
Treatment with ointments and gels
Swelling and pain arising from injuries are the result of damage to small vessels, tissue hypoxia and increased capillary permeability. At the same time, blood circulation worsens (as a rule, blood flow and nutrition of tissues and, accordingly, regeneration (healing) of tissues are disrupted).
The use of ointments, gels and creams is aimed at analgesia
(anesthesia); reduction of tissue irritation and removal of inflammation; acceleration of resorption, reduction of edema and hematoma; improvement of microcirculation (blood flow); stimulation of tissue regeneration (tissue growth).
Almost all sports ointments (creams, gels) have, to a greater or lesser extent, analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. They are usually divided into warming (hyperemic) and cooling ointments.
Warming ointments
Warming ointments, due to the substances included in them (for example, bee and snake poisons, which increase the permeability of capillaries; pepper extract; ointments containing methyl salicylate have a weaker warming effect), locally increase blood filling (hyperemia) fabrics, and as a result increase heat exchange. Immediately after injury, warming ointments cannot be used, because immediately after tissue damage, it is necessary to cool, not warm up.
Warming ointments are used during the rehabilitation period, a few days after an acute injury (depending on the severity), for diseases such as myositis, sciatica, neuritis, bursitis, lumbago, bronchitis. And they are also used for chronic diseases of ligaments, tendons and joints.
Warming (hyperemic) ointments and creams are used to prevent injuries. They help best with significant physical exertion, when the musculoskeletal system has a long and difficult work to do. For example, competitions or just classes in the gym. Many athletes are well aware of how much the muscles hurt after training. To prevent this, it is necessary not only to warm up well, but also to rub warming ointments into the muscles with massage movements. And it is even better to conduct a pre-workout massage with a hyperemic ointment. Taking into account the subtleties of using these products, possible allergic and other reactions, it is necessary to study the annotation before using them. And always before the main application of a new warming ointment / cream for you, a skin test should be carried out: apply a little bit of the product to the elbow bend or to the popliteal fossa area.
At the same time, you should not abuse the preventive use of ointments, which include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Cooling ointments
Cooling ointments (often gels) do not have such an irritating effect as hyperemic ones, so they can be used immediately after injury. The adjective “cooling” does not imply that gels really lower the temperature, they only create a cooling sensation. Cooling ointments (gels), due to their constituent analgesics, anticoagulants, menthol, essential oils, sometimes alcohol, anesthetize and soothe the site of damage.
With fresh injuries, the ointment should not be rubbed in order not to cause tissue hyperemia. You should simply apply the product to the skin and wait until it is absorbed. For this purpose, gel-shaped products are better suited, which have a better suction capacity and cooling effect.
In chronic diseases (bursitis, tendovaginitis, etc.), anti-inflammatory drugs are used, which include iodine and other ingredients.