Sprain can be experienced by anyone, either by people who rarely exercise, as well as athletes who train every day. In general, sprains can be treated at home.
Sprain usually occur when you suddenly change the direction of movement or reduce the speed, usually during exercise. Sprain can also occur while falling, collided with a people or other objects, or landing with improper position after jumping.
In these conditions, the ligament is accidentally forced to stretched beyond its ability so it causes the ligaments torn or twisted. This ligament damage which previously resulted in sprain. Ligaments are tissues that wrap like a ribbon around the joints. Ligaments connect the bones to each other. Ankles, thumbs and toes, wrists, and knees are the areas most commonly suffering sprain.
Read Also : Sprained Ankle First Aid Treatment
Sprain is characterized by certain symptoms, such as pain around joints sprain, bruising and swelling in the joints, as well as the inability of joints to support the body weight. Sprain can also cause bruising that appears somewhat far from the sprain joint due to blood seeping along the muscles. The severity of the sprain depends on how severe ligament damage.
Sprain Home Treatment
Sprain treatment should be done properly in order to prevent the onset of a relapse in the future, such as long-term pain and joint instability. In most cases, sprains can be treated at home. Here are the steps that can be followed:
- Take a rest and stop activities or movements that could aggravate the injury, at least within 2-3 days after injury.
- Apply ice wrapped in a towel on the injured area for at least 15-20 minutes every 2-3 hours a day. But avoid to put ice directly on the injured area.
- Limit the movement that could aggravate the condition of injuries and prevent widespread swollen by applying bandage of the injured area with elastic bandage. Make sure the area is swathed in tightly, but not to obstruct the blood flow. Remove the bandage before you sleep.
- Another way to prevent swelling, put your injury legs or limbs in a higher position. You caan use chair as the base to lay your leg when you are sitting, or a pillow to support you leg when you are sleeping.
- Avoid the injured area from direct expose to heat, for example steam bath, hot water, or exposed to direct sunlight.
When to See a Doctor
See your doctor if home treatment does not succeed and not improve after three days. There are also some circumstances where you have to go to the hospital, that if you experience pain that is unbearable, the joint completely unable to support the weight, the injured area feels numb or can not feel anything, recurring injury or pain in the same area, or there is a reddish area that stretched from a sprained joint.
Such cases are likely to require more complicated treatment in the hospital. In cases when the use of painkiller medication does not relieve the pain, your doctor may prescribe a more powerful painkiller, such as codeine. Brace or splint may also be necessary to minimize the movement of the joint. Physical therapy or physiotherapy could be advised by doctors to help patients recover the joint to normal function. In addition, rarely, surgical treatment may be necessary if there is damage to the muscle or tearing of the ligaments.
1 comments:
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