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 (1st,

2nd, 3rd degree)

Degrees of Severity 1st degree-tissue is overstretched

and there is no loss of motion 2nd degree-tissue is partially torn and

there is some loss of motion and swelling

3rd 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