How should sports injuries be treated?

Sports injuries are generally treated with physical therapy, of which cold therapy is a common physical therapy method. Cold therapy mainly refers to a physical therapy that uses physical molecules lower than human body temperature to stimulate treatment. Below, the editor will explain in detail the cold therapy methods for sports injuries. I hope that the editor’s introduction below will be helpful to you.

Cold therapy

Cold therapy mainly works by lowering tissue temperature, causing peripheral blood vessels to contract, reducing local blood flow and congestion in the injured area, and reducing peripheral nerve conduction velocity. Therefore, it has the effects of stopping bleeding, reducing fever, relieving pain and preventing swelling. During the cold compress process, the local area will feel cold, tingling, pain relief and numbness.

Soak a towel in cold water and apply it to the injured area, changing it every two minutes, or put ice cubes in a bag and apply it externally for about 20 minutes each time. You can also directly rinse the injured area with tap water or soak it in cold water, or rub the injured area with ice cubes, but the time should be shortened. If conditions permit, you can spray the injured area with cold analgesic aerosol. Commonly used are alkane-type cryogenic sprays. When using, spray vertically at a distance of 30 cm to 40 cm from the skin for about 5 seconds to 10 seconds.

Sometimes, in order to enhance the anesthetic effect, you can spray again 20 seconds after stopping the spray, but the number of sprays should not be too many, generally not more than 3 times, to avoid frostbite. After spraying the cold analgesic aerosol, the pain in the injured area is relieved or disappears, the temperature drops and there is a numbness. However, this method is not suitable for facial injuries. It is mainly used in the early stages of acute closed tissue injury, that is, within 24 to 72 hours after the injury.

Cold therapy should be used as soon as possible after an injury, the sooner the better. However, the time must be strictly controlled and attention must be paid to the local tissue condition. Cold compresses lasting more than 20 minutes may cause nerve damage. If skin numbness is found, use should be stopped to prevent tissue frostbite. Do not apply cold compresses to areas that have no feeling; when applying cold compresses to cold-sensitive areas, some people will experience redness, itching, and blisters on the skin. Careful observation and avoidance should be made. Do not apply cold compresses to open injured areas.

I believe that many people will suffer sports injuries during exercise, so we should know some about how to deal with sports injuries in our daily life. The above content is some treatment methods for sports injuries compiled by the editor. I hope that when you encounter an injury again, you must take self-rescue measures to reduce the pain brought to your life by the injury.