General Injuries

Soft-Tissue Injuries  Aka wounds  When a tissue is injured, it may bleed, become inflamed or produce extra fluid  Handout of Soft Tissue Injuries

Sprains and Strains  Sprains-injury to ligaments  Strains-injury to muscles or tendons  These are wounds that bleed internally and can cause fluid buildup  Categorized in order of severity (1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd degree)

Degrees of Severity  1 st degree-tissue is overstretched and there is no loss of motion  2 nd degree-tissue is partially torn and there is some loss of motion and swelling  3 rd degree-tissue is completely torn or nearly ruptured (pulled apart). Typically the person cannot move the body part

Nerve Injuries  Nerve tissue connects the brain and spinal cord with all of the parts of the body.  Nerves transmit the sensations of touch and relay messages from the brain to signal a muscle to contract or relax  When a nerve is injured, an athlete may experience a lack of sensation and even of movement

Stages of Soft-Tissue Healing  Stage 1: Acute Inflammatory Increased flow of blood to the injured area brings cells and chemicals to begin the healing process  Stage 2: Repair The body rebuilds the area to as near normal as possible. Fibroblasts begin building fibers across the area of injury and form a scar which takes 6 weeks to 3 months to heal  Stage 3: Remodeling Takes up to a year or more to accomplish It’s the body’s way of building tissue strength in the tendons, ligaments, and muscles to withstand the stress applied to the body during activity

Healing Time  The greater the injury, the longer the healing time  It also depends on the degree of the injury, the location of the injury, and the age of the athlete  If the blood supply is poor to an area, it will take longer to heal

Bone Injuries  Dislocations-occurs when a significant force displaces bone so that the two bone ends in the same joint no longer line up Present with deformity and pain and are not easily moved Cared for by the team physician and not the ATC

Bone Injuries  Fractures-a broken bone  Failure point-the amount of force required to cause a bone to break Vary with the athlete, age, and bone structure  Named according to the type of impact and how failure of the bone occurred  See Types of Fractures handout

Bone Fracture Healing  Stage 1: Acute When the bone breaks, bleeding occurs in the area. Osteoclasts begin to eat the debris or reabsorb it into the body. They add new layers to the outside of the bone tissues  Stage 2: Repair Osteoclasts and osteoblasts continue to regenerate the bone A callus forms internally and externally to hold the bone ends together  Stage 3: Remodeling Can take several years to complete The callus is reabsorbed and replaced with a fibrous cord of bone Sometimes surgery is need to help in this stage