Sports injuries describe any type of injury that occurs while playing a sport or practicing for an athletic competition. They can be chronic or acute.
What Is the Difference Between A Chronic Injury and An Acute Injury?
Chronic injuries are caused by overusing a specific part of the body or by repetitive motions. Examples of chronic injuries include tennis elbow and shin splints.
If you’ve received acute sports injuries, by contrast, then you’ve suffered a single, sudden, traumatic event like a fall or a collision between two players. Symptoms of an acute sports injury, include severe and sudden pain, swelling, inability to fully move a joint, and extreme weakness. There are facilities that can help with acute sports injuries in Jacksonville, FL, that can help.
What Is RICE?
RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevation, and it describes the standard First Aid for minor acute injuries. The injured athlete should follow RICE for two or three days.
Rest will prevent the patient from making the injury worse. Ice helps reduce pain and swelling and is particularly helpful during the first couple of days. The patient should apply a bag of crushed ice to the injury for 15 to 20 minutes at a time.
A compress or elastic bandage prevents swelling by stopping fluids from accumulating around the injury.
The patient should also keep the injury elevated above their heart. If the injury involves their hips or buttocks, they should put one or two pillows under their buttocks and lower back to elevate it.
When Should Someone Call A Doctor?
Someone with a severe life-threatening injury needs to go to the emergency room. Signs of a severe life-threatening injury can include the following: severe abdominal pain, dizziness, trouble breathing, and visible deformity of limbs. For the patients experiencing crunching or popping noises when they try to move, severe back, neck, joint or extremity pain, you should visit Injury Care Centers.
If you’ve received any acute sports injuries in Jacksonville, FL, that is not life-threatening and has no visible deformity of a limb, Injury Care Centers is the place to go. Their fully equipped facilities come with highly trained physicians and medical support professionals who are ready to get you back into shape. Contact Injury Care Centers or visit to learn more about treatment of acute sports injuries in Jacksonville, FL.