What Is Immediate Care in Sports Medicine?
Getting the first line of treatment just after an injury is known as immediate care in sports medicine. Immediate care plays a crucial part in sports medicine and the treatment of sports people. Immediate care can stop turning an acute injury into a chronic injury.
Why Is Immediate Care Necessary?
Not being able to play anymore is the worst nightmare for any sportsperson (athlete, player); injuries could be a possible reason for this. It is common to get injured while playing, fracturing bones, nose, internal bleeding, bruises, or severe injuries. Sometimes, these injuries are very ordinary, but in some cases, it is dangerous that they may lead to death, so immediate concern is essential. If immediate care is provided on time, it can turn the tables and save from any greater loss.
Who Will Provide Immediate Care in Sports Medicine?
Proper training, medication, and immediate care are important assets for athletes. Along with every team of players, a team of trained doctors (orthopedics, physiotherapists), nurses, physical medicine, and rehabilitation is required and should be appointed. The team should be trained and aware of all the health safety policies of the government. A full-time trainer should always be present with the team and provide all the healthcare necessities to the athletes. Any injury should be attended to first and immediately by this team.
When a sportsman is playing in the field surrounded by millions of people in the stadium and gets injured, any critical treatment is not possible; only a trained physicist can help with immediate care.
What Is the Immediate Care Treatment Process?
As soon as any injury occurs, stop all movement and try to stay calm, letting the essential care team attend to the injured player. While providing the first line of treatment, PRICE techniques should be applied.
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Protect - Secure protection of the injured part with the help of zero movement, bandages, and supporting gears.
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Rest - Stop all movement and take a rest. Try to work according to the doctor’s and trainer’s suggestions.
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Ice - Ice over the injured area will help in reducing swelling and pain.
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Compression - Compression is helpful in swelling (edema, inflammation) reduction.
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Elevation - Slight elevation of the injured area will reduce the blood flow towards the injury and helps stop the bleeding.
Sometimes injuries are serious, and the athlete becomes unconscious. In this case, some extra care is needed, which is as follows-
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If the player is unconscious and breathing, and there is no other noticeable injury present, such a condition happens because of the peripheral pooling of blood and less supply of oxygen to the brain. Try to put the athlete in the “Tindal burg position,” which eventually helps in increasing the supply of blood and oxygen to the brain; it helps in reverse consciousness.
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If the athlete is unconscious and not breathing, try to put the athlete in the supine position with slight head elevation and look for any breathing obstruction. If the tongue has fallen back, then try to pull it back and clear the obstruction. If any other breathing obstruction is there, like a foreign particle (chewing gum), try to remove that.
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If there is no breathing obstruction present and the player is still unconscious, try to provide CPR and artificial breathing immediately.
Immediate care is not only required for on-field injuries; it also includes injuries of training. Many athletes get injured while training. Cases of spine fracture, muscle pull, strain, and pain in the back are noticed. Because of improper training and avoidance, any acute injury can turn into a chronic injury. Treatment of all acute injuries should be done on time. A trained physicist should have been appointed for the training of athletes.
What Are the Common Sports Injuries?
Some common sports injuries are listed below-
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Contusions - Hard hit with any solid substances results in contusions. They generally seem red or black and remain painful for days.
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Strains - Muscle pull is a general thing in sports. It can occur during sports and training also. Overstretching of muscles results in strains.
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Sprain - A ligament fracture or ligament pull is known as a sprain. It needs almost 15 days to heal.
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Dislocation - It is known as the dislodgement of bone from the socket; it happens with a forceful fall on it with another player. This needs treatment from a medical professional.
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Fracture - Any crack in bone processes bone fracture and requires months to heal.
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Concussion - It occurs because of a head injury. Players may become unconscious or forget things for a time; it can be very serious and fatal for life.
How Can the Immediate Care Team Help?
An immediate care professional will provide all the immediate care needed. They diagnose the injury and note the severity of the injury, which further helps other medical professionals to work fast with the injury.
Immediate care provider removes breathing obstruction, secures the injury, and makes sure not to get any additional damage. If needed, they provide CPR and artificial breathing. In the case of dislocation, a properly trained physicist will put back the dislocated bone in place. In case of pain, they provide painkillers and apply ointments.
Immediate care providers and the team also take care of the nutrition of athletes and ensure that they have a balanced diet and healthy nutrients. From the time of training, physicists help all athletes to prevent all injuries.
Conclusion
Injuries are part of sports activities and whenever an injury occurs during the sports immediate care provider is there to help and manage the first line of therapy. The first line of therapy is important and the fastest treatment anyone can get on the field. These treatments are cost-effective, and in many cases, they are so accurate that there is no need for second appointments with medical professionals. Most of the time, immediate care terms into a life-saving process.
Research said in 57 % of cases, primary care turns into life-saving treatment. An immediate care team should be appointed with the team of players to guide them and train them to prevent injuries during and after the sports.
