Sports injuries
Sport is healthy, but it is well known that injuries can occur. Common sports injuries are
The most common causes are:
Overexertion/exceeding (physically or mentally) the stress limits;
Overestimating oneself;
Inattention and fatigue;
Missing/insufficient warm-up;
Extraneous influence by the opponent;
Insufficient/incorrect sports equipment.
In the case of blunt injuries to muscles, tendons and ligaments, the tried-and-tested PECH (bad luck = Pech in German = Pause-Eis-Compression-Hochlagerung),rule should be applied, as the first few minutes after an accident are crucial to minimise the consequences for the person affected. The PECH rule is an easy-to-remember basic rule for sports injuries and consists of the following measures:
Break: activity should be stopped immediately after the injury. The affected body part should be immobilised and further strain should be avoided.
Ice: cooling the affected part of the body with suitable cooling agents will constrict the blood vessels. Bleeding and swelling are reduced. The metabolism in the tissue is slowed down by the cooling, so tissue damage spreads more slowly. The cold also relieves pain in the affected area of the body.
Compression: an immediately applied compression bandage slows the spread of bleeding and swelling.
Elevate + get help: The injured body part should be elevated, if possible above heart level. This improves the return flow of blood and reduces the actual static blood pressure at the injury. Swelling and the associated pain will be reduced. Less blood penetrates the surrounding tissue.
These immediate measures reduce the swelling and therefore speed up recovery. In most cases, however, they do not replace a visit to the doctor.
Other injuries include dislocations or fractures. The affected body part should be immobilised as well as possible and a doctor should be consulted immediately. Incorrectly dislocated joints can injure ligaments and tendons.
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