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Injury information
Injury Information
 We're going to start by covering:

What is an injury?

  • Injury relates to harm to any of the structures of the body.
  • An acute injury happens due to a specific incident such as falling, being kicked, or pulling a muscle.
  • An overuse injury occurs when a lot of little strains add together. It may be responsible for some of those aches and pains that occur for no specific reason. These overuse injuries are often due to repeated pull or strain or irritation of one particular area.
What is an injury?

Injury Terms

Bruise

 This is caused by bleeding into soft tissue after a direct blow, such as being hit by a baseball. The severity of the bruise usually relates to the force of the injury.

Sprain

 Tearing of the fibres of a ligament. Severity can vary from a minor tear of a few fibres to completely tearing the ligament.

Strain

 Tearing of the fibres of a muscle or tendon. This too can vary from a few fibres to a complete disruption.

Dislocation

 This is not good news! A dislocated joint is one that has come apart (imagine a plug being pulled from a socket). In most joints this involves a lot of force and may be associated with broken bones and torn ligaments.

Who to see

Sports trainer/First aider

This may be a teacher, coach, or friend who is qualified to give first aid. They may be the first person you see after an injury, give you immediate help and/or refer you to someone else.

Physiotherapist

A physiotherapist is qualified to treat all musculoskeletal injuries. They will be able to diagnose your problem and provide you with treatment, exercises, and advice. The physiotherapist may refer you to a doctor if you need further investigations such as x-rays.

Doctor

You may see a doctor first, if you attend hospital, or if you go directly to your GP with your injury. A doctor may do tests and refer you to a physiotherapist for treatment to get things working properly again.

 First aider


Physiotherapist
Doctor
Click here to learn the correct treatment of sprains and strains.


 
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This page last updated : 14th June 2001