Sprains and Strains

First of all sprains and strains may sound pretty alike , in reality they
are very different. A sprain is when you over stretch or tear a ligament.
Usually more than one ligament is damaged.

I’m thinking of a word. It sounds something like a combination of spring and rain. Did you guess? It’s sprain. Really a great word but pretty painful if you have one. Many people talk about ankle sprains but what is a sprain? Well a sprain is a stretch or tear to a ligament. The pain is caused by damage to the ankle ligaments as they are torn or stretched. When you hurt your ankle you often feel it twist. There may be sudden pain, swelling and/or bruising. It hurts to walk or stand on your injured ankle. The doctor may order an x-ray to rule out a fracture. He may ask you to come back in 3-5 days when the swelling is less so the damage can be seen more easily. The treatment is PRICE: Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevate foot to relieve swelling. The doctor will probably give you mild anti inflammatory pain killers (such as ibuprofen) to help with the recovery. If the sprain is very bad then rehabilitation and physical therapy made be ordered. So until you get a sprain laugh all you want because if you get one you won’t be laughing for 2-3 weeks until your injury has healed

Many things can cause sprains. A fall, sudden movement, a blow to the body that tears a ligament, severe a ligament or forces the ligament into a different position. Believe it or not the most common sprained part of your body is your ankle. Over 25,000 people sprain their ankles in America each day. Sprains also occur in the wrist, knee, and elbow.

Symptoms:
-Pain in an area
-Not being able to put pressure on it
-Swelling in the area
-Looks disfigured (lumps bumps)
-Unable to move the area
-You have redness in the injured area
-You have numbness in the injured area

 Treatment:
-Rest, stop doing activities that caused the injury
-Apply medicine or ice to injured area as needed

-Keep comfortable; make sure to relax the injured area

A strain is an injury to the muscle and or tendon. A muscle strain is a
stretch or tear of muscle fibers. It can range from an overstretched muscle
to a complete tear. The most common places to get strained are the back and
the hamstring muscle. What cause strains can be contact sports, sports that
required extensive gripping, and racquet sports can sometimes cause sprains.

Symptoms:
-Pain to injured area
-Lack of motion to injured area
-Muscles spasms to area
-Muscle weakness to injured area
-Swelling, cramping, or inflammation to injured area
-Loss of muscle function to injured area
-Normally have pain in the injured area and general weakness of the muscle
when people try to move it
-Usually completely torn muscle and or tendons are often very painful and
disabling.


Treatment:

Strains have two stages of recovery. The first stage goal is to reduce
swelling and pain. Usually you should do a formula of resting, putting ice
on injury ice and compressing the pain. Usually it is advised to take over
the counter drugs. The second stage is for more severe strains the
treatment includes surgery, hard casts and a long break from the activity
that caused the injury!

To prevent both sprains and strains:
-Limit your exercise so that when you get tired you stop
-Have a healthy diet and keep your muscles strong
-Maintain a healthy weight
-Keep walk ways free of clutter
-Wear shoes that fit
-Do stretching exercises
-Be in right physical condition to play sport
-Walk and or run on even surfaces
-Wear protective gear when playing sports
-Warm up for a sport before you participate in it