A sprain is different from a strain but their care and rehabilitation is the same. A sprain is a stretch of one or more ligaments. It can result from a blow to your joints forcing it to displace. You can barely do your activities with the severe pain you are experiencing. A sprain usually swells up like painful lumps on your body. A strain, on the other hand, is an injury to a muscle or tendon. Regardless if you injure a ligament or a muscle, these conditions have a common sharp pain. Caring for your sprain or strain only takes four easy steps most people remember in its acronym RICE:
- Rest. Keep your sprain or strain rested. Avoid moving around and using your injured body part. Moving your injury will hinder the healing process. If you have a sprain on your lower body like your ankle, leg, knee or thigh joint – keep it stationary! Use a mini splint to keep your sprain from moving or you can wrap it firmly with wide gauze and don’t move it when it’s not necessary.
- Ice it. The cold temperature is known to help inflamed muscles to subside. Put some ice inside an ice pad and apply it on your sprain or strain. Be sure you do not exceed 15 to 20 minutes of cold application or you might suffer from numbness and frostbite. You may fill your tub or a pail with water and ice and soak your injured foot in it for 15 minutes. Soaking in cold water will relax your other muscles as well.
- Compress it! Compressing your sprain and strain is proven to help reduce swelling quickly. Not only does it work in healing the inflammation, it would keep the injury in place as well. Use elastic bandages, air casts and splints. for compressing your sprain and strain. You can buy these supplies in a pharmacy or a medical supplier.
- However, do not wrap your injury too tightly so as not to disrupt your blood flow. Ask your doctor how tight your compression should be. It’s advisable to get professional advice if you don’t want your nails and fingers to turn blue!
- Elevate it. Elevating your sprained or strained body part allows the blood from your lower body to flow evenly through your body and reduces the formation of blood clots. If you are sitting down, lift your leg up on another chair in front of you and keep it elevated as much as you could. If you are lying down, stack firm pillows under your foot to elevate it.
Letting the swelling subside takes days or weeks depending on how severe your sprain or strain is. After your muscles stop swelling and normalize, your doctor will advise you to have rehabilitation therapy to get your joints working normally again. Always remember to follow every exercise your physical therapist will teach you. Your recovery will depend more on how conscientious you are in obeying your therapist.
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