In this post, I will be talking about the different types of wound and injury and some brief description on how to treat it!
Types of Wounds
Contusion: Also known as bruise. Happens when there is a forceful blow or knock to the skin and soft tissue and leaving the other skin intact. Usually requires minimum care because there is no open wound. The treatment for contusion is PRICE (Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) (Discussed in the next post).
Laceration: Injury to the tissue where the tissue is cut or torn. This wound happens when a foreign object strikes the skin and causes a wound to open. Depending on the angle and force of the strike, some laceration could be more serious than others, reaching as far as deep tissue and leading to profuse bleeding. Sterile dressings are used and immobilisation is recommended for complex extremity wounds.
Abrasion: Wound where the superficial (outermost) layer of the skin is removed as you seen with 1st degree burns. Usually happens when you scrape your skin against the tar road or when you fall down in the football field. To treat this kind of wound, you have to first clean the wound by pouring clean water on the wound. Then, stop any bleeding by applying a firm and direct pressure on the wound with a piece of clean cloth or gauze. If the cut is on your hand or arm, you can help slow the bleeding by lifting your injured body part above your head. If the cut is on your leg, raise your leg up above your heart level.
Types of Injury
Muscle Strain: If a musculotendinous structure is overstretched or forced to contract against too much resistance, damage can occur to the muscle fibers, at the musculotendinous junction, in the tendon, or at the tendinous attachment to the bone. There are 3 types of muscle strains which are grade I, grade II and grade III muscle strains. In grade I strain only some muscle or tendon fibers have been stretched or actually torn. Moving usually produces some tenderness and pain. Full range of motion (ROM) is possible but pain is present. In grade II strain, some muscle or tendon fibers have been torn. Active contraction of the injured muscle is extremely painful and swelling is usually present. Grade III strain is when there is a complete tear of muscle fibers in the muscle belly or at the tendinous attachment of the bone. Pain is intense initially but goes away quickly because of complete seperation of the nerve fibers. majority of 3rd degree strains are treated conservatively with some period of immobilisation. Recovery time varies for muscle strains from 7 days (grade I) to 7 weeks (grade II) to 7 months (grade III). Initial treatment for muscle strains is PRICE / POLICE.
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Ligament Sprain: Ligament attaches from bone to bone. It's primary function is to provide stability to a joint. If stress is applied to a joint that forces motion beyond its normal ROM, injury to the ligament is likely. There are 3 grades of ligamentous sprain. Grade I sprain happens when there is some stretching or perhaps tearing to the ligamentous fibers, with little or no joint instability. Mild pain, little swelling, and joint stiffness might be present. Grade II sprain is when there is tearing and separation of the ligamentous fibers and moderate instability of the joint. Moderate to severe pain, swelling and joint stiffness is to be expected. Lastly, grade III sprain happens when there is total rupture to the ligament. Gross instability, profuse swelling and a stiff joints are symptoms of a grade III sprain. Severe pain might be present initially, followed by little or no pain due to the total disruption of nerve fibers. A grade III sprain requires some form of immobilisation lasting several weeks. Surgical repair may be necessary to correct a grade III sprain. Recovery time for a ligament sprain varies from a few weeks to almost a year depending on the severity of the sprain. Initial treatment for ligament sprains is PRICE / POLICE.
Bone Fracture: Fractures are injury caused to the bone. This injury is extremely common among the athlete population. They can be generally classified as open fracture (where the bone breaks through the skin) and closed fracture (little of no displacement of bone thus causing little or no soft tissue disruption). The most common type of fracture you see in sport is the stress fracture. This is caused from overuse or fatigue rather than acute trauma. The healing time for a bone fracture is normally 5-9 months. Initial treatment for bone fractures is PRICE / POLICE.
These are the type of wounds and injuries that you see on a daily basis. Hopefully this post helped you viewers to understand the different type of wounds and injuries! Maybe you can help out next time if you see somebody in need.
If you are wondering what are the protocols to treat these injuries mentioned above with more detail, don't worry! This will be discussed in my next post! For now, try to remember the acronym PRICE and POLICE. Stay tuned! Cheers and have a nice day! c:
References
1) Prentice, W. Rehabilitation Techniques for Sports Medicine and Athletic Training.2) Mayo Clinic. http://www.mayoclinic.org/
3) WebMD. http://www.webmd.com/
4) NHS. http://www.nhs.uk/
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