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