Tips for How to Treat a Sports Injury Right After It Happens

Stop Exercise Immediately If You Have Pain

The first sign of any sports injury is usually sudden pain. And the first step in treating a sports injury is to prevent further injury or damage. This means stop the activity immediately and start treatment. Resting an injured part is essential to healing, so don't exercise through pain, which will only make the situation worse and may delay healing by days or even weeks.

Reduce Swelling With Ice and Compression

The first thing that happens after an acute injury is swelling around the site of the injury. The first treatment for most acute soft tissue injuries (bruises, strains, sprains, tears) is to prevent, stop, and reduce swelling. When soft tissue is damaged, it swells or possibly bleeds internally. This swelling causes pain and loss of motion, which limits use of the muscles.

To reduce swelling, immediately apply ice to the injury, elevate the injured part above your heart, and use a compression wrap to help keep the swelling in check. Compression keeps the blood from pooling in the tissues. Don't wrap the bandages too tightly, but keep it snug.

Ice the Right Way

After most acute or sudden sports injuries, ice is your friend. Ice reduces swelling and helps decrease pain. Applying ice over a compression wrap can help reduce swelling more than the wrap alone.

The common treatment guidelines include applying ice to the injured part several times a day for 20 minutes each time. One of the easiest ways to ice an injury is with a bag of crushed ice or a bag of frozen vegetables, like peas. Let the area warm completely before applying ice again (to prevent frostbite). Never apply heat to an acute injury. Heat will increase circulation and swelling.

Medicate When Appropriate

Pain is the primary symptom of the majority of sports injuries. Most soft-tissue injuries are painful because of the swelling and inflammation that occurs after an injury. Pain relief is often the main reason that people turn to over-the-counter (OTC) anti-inflammatory medications that work by reducing addressing the inflammation that occurs as a result of the injury.

Over-the-counter pain medications are also useful for reducing the pain of ​muscle strains and muscle pulls.

Start Moving as Soon as You Can

After a day or two of rest and ice, most sprains, strains, or other injuries will begin to heal. If your pain or swelling doesn't decrease after 48 hours, see your doctor.

Once healing begins, mobility exercises, gentle stretching, and light massage may reduce adhesions and scar tissue formation and improve muscle function. Slowly increase range of motion in the injured joint or muscle. But be careful not to force any stretches or you risk re-injury to the area.

Rebuild Strength and Joint Stability

After an injury, it is essential for joints to return to proper alignment. A good rehab program will include exercises that target joint stability, which is considered the most important thing to rebuild following a lower extremity injury.

Finally, after the injury has healed, begin strengthening exercises. Start with easy weights and use good form.

Should I Ice or Heat My Injury?

The treatment for acute sports injuries starts by applying ice. But after healing is well underway, heat may be helpful to ease muscle tension in chronic aches and pains.