Sports First Aid for Sprains and Strains
DO THE SIMPLE STUFF WELL
Use the P.O.L.I.C.E principle for best practice in recovery in the first 72 hours and see your Physio for further management and rehab exercises to return to sport.
Protection: During the first few days after an injury, you should certainly rest the injured joint, ligament, or muscle. After a few days, gentle motion can be started while you still maintain a level of protection for the injured area. During this time you may require strapping or taping of the joint or some sort of assistive device, like crutches it’s too painful to walk.
Optimal Loading: While you are protecting your injured body part, gentle motion can, and should, be started. For example, after an ankle injury, you should be able to gently move your ankle joint and toes with active range of motion followed by normal walking pattern and strengthening exercises like calf raises. The progressive loading program will promote optimal healing of the collagen and muscle fibres, and it can prevent stiffness and muscle wastage. An overload injury like sore shins will be managed differently.
Ice: Applying ice will help manage the inflammation and can help decrease some of the acute pain that you may be experiencing. The latest research shows that we want the body’s natural inflammatory response to take place and so ice is best used for pain relief than for healing as originally thought.
Dampen a wet cloth and apply to skin to protect from ice burns. Apply a bag of ice onto the injured area. This is proven to be more effective than a cold pack or bag of frozen peas.
General rule: apply ice on large joints or areas for 20 mins on, then 2 hours off. For smaller joints like fingers and toes, apply ice for 10 -15 minutes and 2 hours off. You may repeat this cycle for 48 hours when awake. If the ice makes your pain worse, see your doctor or Physio to rule out possible fracture.
Compression: It is important to control swelling. While applying ice, compression can be added using an elastic bandage. Make sure the compression is not too tight and that you have normal colour and sensation in your extremities. Do not use compression when you are sleeping.
Elevation: If you can, elevate the injury above your heart whenever you can to reduce swelling. An injured ankle or knee can be placed on a stack of pillows while you are lying down. An injury to your elbow or wrist requires that you elevate your entire arm on something like a pillow, arm rest or pillow on a table above your heart. For obvious swelling, I’ll provide you with a relieving swelling massage to help control the inflammatory process and flush out the extra accumulating fluid.
- As your Sports Physio, I’ll guide you in the "optimal loading" part of the P.O.L.I.C.E. principle and progress your rehab exercises to return you to performance level. There are many holistic healing tips, modifications and Physiotherapy treatments that I’ll share to help accelerate your healing.