Using a pressure bandage helps prevent or reduce swelling. Use an elastic bandage and wrap the injured area without making it so tight that it will cut off the blood supply. Raise the injured area above the level of the heart. Prop up a leg or arm while resting it. You may need to lie down to get your leg above your heart level.
Do all 4 parts of the RICE treatment at the same time. If you think you have a more serious injury, like a broken bone, call your healthcare provider right away. No one is immune to sprains and strains.
But here are some tips to help reduce your risk for injury:. Warm up before any sports activity, including practice, and use or wear protective equipment that's right for that sport. Search Encyclopedia. If you've sprained your ankle, you know what severe pain is. But maybe that "sprain" was a "strain" or possibly even a "break. Just the facts Here are some facts on musculoskeletal injuries: Sprains are a stretch or tear of a ligament, the tissue connecting 2 bones.
Sprains A sprain is caused by an injury that stresses a joint and overstretches or even ruptures supporting ligaments. This can happen from a fall, twist, or blow to the body, In a mild sprain, a ligament is stretched, but the joint remains stable and is not loosened.
Strains Acute strains are caused by stretching or pulling a muscle or tendon. Typical symptoms of a strain include: Pain Muscle spasm Muscle weakness Swelling Inflammation Cramping In severe strains, the muscle, tendon, or both are partially or completely ruptured, resulting in serious injury. These are some common strains: Back strain.
Breaks Bone breaks, unlike sprains and strains, should always be looked at by a healthcare provider to make sure of proper healing. After the joint is back in its proper place, your doctor may use a combination of ice, pain medication, and even a sling to immobilize the area while it heals. Similar to a sprain, your doctor will likely recommend stretches and exercises to slowly reintroduce movement to the joints. The team of orthopedic doctors at AICA Orthopedics can help develop an individualized treatment plan for you so you can get back to your regular range of motion while pain-free!
Call us now. How to Distinguish Between a Dislocation and a Sprain. What Is a Sprain? How to Diagnose a Sprain In the case of a moderate to severe sprain, your doctor will likely want to rule out a broken bone with advanced diagnostic imaging. Treating Sprains When you experience a mild sprain, you may experience slight discomfort and mild pain and attempt to treat the affected area at home. What Is a Dislocation?
Sprains and strains are common — but how can you tell the difference between them? Which type of injury have you sustained? A sprain occurs when you overstretch or tear a ligament the bands of fibrous tissue that connect your bones to each other.
One of the most common sprains you may have heard about is a sprain to the ACL, a ligament in the center of the knee which connects your femur the long bone of your thigh to your tibia a bone in your calf.
Ankle sprains are also extremely common. These involve twisting the ankle too far past its normal range of motion, to the point where tears develop in the ligaments that connect the foot and leg bones.
A strain is the same type of soft tissue pull or tear, but it affects muscles or tendons the cords of fibrous tissue that anchor your muscles to your bones.
Both involve the tissue being stretched beyond its normal length, which can lead to painful tears. However, tendons can also be strained — for example, the Achilles tendon at the back of the ankle, or the tendons attaching your biceps to your humerus the long bone of your upper arm. Sprains and strains are very similar in nature. Both involve over-stretching and tearing. Usually, this type of injury is sudden — the result of:.
However, you can also sustain a chronic sprain or strain that develops over time — for example, by typing eight hours per day at work or playing golf several times a week the repetitive motions of a golf swing can lead to wrist, shoulder, or back injuries. Athletes and workers who put stress on the same joint or muscle group over and over are particularly susceptible to chronic injuries like this.
Generally speaking, however, the symptoms are similar. For example, if you roll your ankle you may hear or feel something giving way. Oftentimes, the ankle will swell up immediately, leading to stiffness, and sometimes bruises will form around the site of injury. Strains to muscles and tendons have similar symptoms as ligament sprains. How can you tell if you have strained a muscle? Typically, the muscle you strain will hurt when you try to contract it. For example, if you strain your hamstring, you will likely feel pain when you try to use the hamstring muscle to bend your knee.
Overstretching a muscle that has suffered an acute strain may also cause pain. Stretching your hamstrings in the days following a hamstring muscle strain will likely be painful, indicating that your muscle is strained. Ligament sprains are caused by a forceful movement to your body that places stress on a ligament. If you twist your ankle, for example, the ligaments on the outer part of your ankle joint may become overstretched. They might even tear.
This overstretching or tearing is a ligament sprain. There are different grades of muscle strains, ranging from grade I to grade III. If your healthcare provider or PT determines that you have a muscle strain, he or she may consider obtaining diagnostic images like an MRI to determine the full nature of the injury. Ligament sprains grading follows along similarly to muscle strain grades.
Ligaments sprains are typically accompanied by excessive motion around the joint that is supported by the ligament. Significant swelling and bruising may also be present. If you suffer an injury like a sprain or strain, how do you know when you need to see your healthcare provider. Generally speaking, a visit to a practitioner after any trauma is a good idea; there may be hidden problems that you simply cannot diagnose without the aid of a medical professional.
You should absolutely see your healthcare provider if:. Bottom line: if your pain and symptoms limit your ability to comfortably move around after your injury, check in with your healthcare provider. Muscle strains are usually diagnosed by your healthcare provider or physical therapist. Two characteristics of muscle stains found during an examination include:. Examination of your injury may also reveal tenderness to palpation, bruising, and swelling.
Your healthcare provider may also perform diagnostic imaging tests including an X-ray, which will show the bones near your injury, or an MRI to look at soft tissue near your injury. The MRI will likely show a muscle strain and can reveal the severity of your injury.
Diagnosis of a ligament sprain includes various clinical tests performed by your healthcare provider. He or she will likely palpate your joint and ligament, feeling for warmth and swelling, which are signs of inflammation.
Tests of the range of motion and strength around your injured joint will be performed. Many special tests , like the anterior drawer test for the ACL in your knee or the drawer test in your ankle, rely on pulling on your joint to test if excessive mobility is present. These give your healthcare provider clues that a ligament sprain may be present.
Initial treatment for a muscle strain is rest. You must let the tissues heal, and that takes time to build the collagen bridges and scar tissue that will one day become healthy muscle tissue. Depending on the severity of the strain, your rest period may be from one week to four or six weeks.
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