How to give first aid in the event of a sports injury

The physiological response to a sports injury can result in bleeding, inflammation, redness, swelling, and pain due to changes in vascular function and intracellular chemical reactions. The inability to move, stiffness of joints, and inhibition of muscle function are also common after a sports injury, resulting in chronic disease over time. The swelling that occurs after a sports injury is related to the extent of the injury, the permeability of the blood vessels after the injury, and the chemical mediators. Swelling causes local hypoxia and releases harmful chemical mediators to the tissue, which can cause cellular damage. Because of the reduced joint mobility after injury, muscle strength and muscle endurance will decrease and muscle atrophy will occur. This in turn affects the athlete’s athletic career because of stiff joints, lack of limb movement and muscle atrophy, and decreased cardiopulmonary function. Therefore, the emergency assessment and treatment of sports injuries to avoid more serious second-degree injuries is the first purpose we have to achieve on the sports field. Then, according to the situation, we can send to the hospital for emergency treatment or on-site treatment and injury rehabilitation. If an acute bruise, joint ligament sprain or muscle tendon strain occurs during sports, Yunhua Feng, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fifth People’s Hospital of Foshan City, should immediately stop sports, apply ice to the injured area, apply compression bandage and try to elevate the affected part. Rest (Rest), ice (Ice), compression (Compression), elevation (Elevation) are the four principles of dealing with acute sports injuries, which is generally known as the RICE principle. The purpose of stopping exercise is to reduce the pain, bleeding or swelling caused by continued activity and to prevent the injury from worsening; the purpose of compression and elevation of the affected area is also to stop bleeding and reduce swelling; and ice, in addition to the above-mentioned prevention of injury deterioration, stopping bleeding, stopping the role of swelling, but also pain relief and relaxation of the muscle effect. Why do we need ice? Let’s look at the physiological role of ice (cold), the physiological role of ice are: 1, strengthen collagen fibers; 2, make local vasoconstriction; 3, relax the muscle; 4, local anesthesia, pain relief; 5, anti-inflammatory, reduce the local metabolic rate, offset the inflammation caused by redness, swelling, heat, pain, and change the reaction process of the tissue. The method used is to cover the skin surface directly with ice, ice water bag or ice pack containing special chemicals, and apply ice for 15 to 20 minutes each time, and then ice again after 20 to 30 minutes, and again every 2 to 4 hours if necessary, to minimize the swelling, pain and blood stasis. At first, the ice will feel cold, and eventually the local skin sensation will disappear temporarily, and the cold therapy can be stopped when the local pain disappears. Injuries to the skin during sports are mostly bruises and blisters. The symptoms are broken skin, bleeding, exuding tissue fluid, etc. You can disinfect the affected area after cleaning the wound, and apply ice to stop the bleeding and reduce swelling if necessary. When bruises or bruises occur during sports, attention should be paid to the occurrence of fractures in order to avoid further deterioration of the injury. If the skin surface is red because of unsuitable shoes and socks or taped before sports, and the skin is rubbed by sudden and powerful external objects several times, resulting in the exudation of tissue fluid, which accumulates under the skin and forms blisters, stop sports immediately and apply ice to the affected area and wait for it to disappear automatically. If a concussion or spinal injury (especially cervical spine) occurs during sports, the patient will have obvious headache, vomiting, pain, body paralysis, etc., and should only avoid moving the patient, and make a good fixation and initial assessment and then send to the emergency room as soon as possible. This situation often occurs in rugby and jousting and other large impact sports, must be suspended or suspended game time, until the patient has made the initial assessment and treatment sent to the hospital before continuing the game, in order to maintain the safety of the player’s life. Never be sloppy with head and cervical spine injuries for the sake of the game. As for muscle injuries, most of them are bruises, strains and cramps. The principle of treatment should be to stop the sport immediately and apply the RICE procedure in order to minimize the injury and swelling caused. Among the injuries to joints, ligaments and bones, fractures, dislocations and ligament sprains are the most common. Immediately after a fracture occurs, the injury should be immobilized to keep it in the same position at the time and sent to the doctor quickly. As for dislocation or subluxation of a joint due to improper force, it should also be sent to an orthopedic surgeon for further examination and treatment, and it is best to avoid resetting it yourself. I believe most athletes have experienced a sprain of a joint ligament (sprain). According to Jin-Xin Lai, 85% of the injuries to the ankle joint are ligament sprains, with lateral ligament sprains accounting for the majority. If the sprain is not properly treated, it will cause pain and swelling. When a joint sprain is found, the movement should be stopped immediately, and ice and proper compression should be applied to minimize the pain and swelling, plus taping if necessary until the swelling is eliminated and the pain fades away. If the sprain is minor, you can continue to play sports after the pain and swelling is gone, but if the sprain is more serious, you need to consult a doctor to ensure future recovery.