This document discusses various types of sports-related injuries including contusions, muscle cramps, strains, sprains, wounds, fractures, head injuries, and spinal cord injuries. It provides details on the causes, symptoms, and typical treatments for each type of injury. For example, it notes that muscle cramps can be very painful but typically only last a few minutes, while strains involve tearing of muscle fibers and should be treated using RICE (rest, ice, compression, and elevation). Prevention tips are also outlined such as warming up, stretching, staying hydrated, and using ice packs as needed.

1. Sport – related injuries
Silvia Gerčáková
JLF UK
UNIcert 2016

2. • Sports injuries are injuries that occur in
athletic activities or exercising.
• They can result from accidents, poor training
technique in practice, inadequate equipment,
and overuse of a particular body part.
• Collisions with the ground, objects, and other
players are common, and unexpected dynamic
forces on limbs and joints can cause injury.

3. Contusion/Bruise
• damage to small blood vessels which causes
bleeding within the tissues.

4. Muscle cramp
• a strong muscle contraction that can be very painful lasting in few
minutes
• The symptoms of muscle cramps usually come on quickly and intensely.
• The most obvious symptom of a muscle cramp is a sharp, acute pain in
the affected muscle or muscles.
• If it’s a large muscle that is involved, like the one in the calf of your leg,
you may be able to feel a knot or hard lump in the muscle, just under
the skin.
• There are also cramps that occur after the fact. These delayed or
nocturnal cramps can affect athletes.

5. prevention
• warm up and stretch
their muscles first
• Stretch slowly and
hold each stretch for
30 seconds
• remember to stretch
after the activity to
allow the muscles to
cool down
• drink enough fluids to keep
your body’s electrolytes from
depleting
• using ice packs can help relax
the tense muscles
• massage

6. Muscle strain
trauma to a muscle due to overstretching and
tearing of muscle fibers
• Symptoms :
Swelling, bruising, or redness due to the injury
Pain at rest
Pain when the specific muscle or the joint in
relation to that muscle is used
Weakness of the muscle or tendons
Inability to use the muscle at all

8. Treatment
• P – Protect
• R – Rest
• I – Ice
• C – Compression
• E – Elevation
• S - Stabilize

9. Sprain
• an injury in a joint, caused by the ligament being stretched beyond its
own capacity
• Grade 1 sprain (mild): Slight stretching and some damage to the
fibers (fibrils) of the ligament.
• Grade 2 sprain (moderate): Partial tearing of the ligament. There is
abnormal looseness (laxity) in the joint when it is moved in certain
ways.
• Grade 3 sprain (severe): Complete tear of the ligament. This causes
significant instability and makes the joint nonfunctional.

10. • Signs and symptoms will vary, depending on
the severity of the injury.

11. Wound
 Abrasion: a wearing
or rubbing away of skin
tissue by friction.
 Incision: a smoothly-cut
skin wound made by a
sharp object.
 Laceration: a torn or
ragged skin wound.
 Puncture: a skin wound
caused by an object
piercing the skin and
creating a small hole.

12. How to help?
• Washing a cut or scrape with soap, and
water and keeping it clean and dry is all
that is required to care for most wounds.
• Cleaning the wound with hydrogen
peroxide and iodine is acceptable initially,
but can delay healing and should be
avoided long-term.
• Apply antibiotic ointment and keep the
wound covered.
• Seek medical care within 6 hours if the
bleeding does not stop, as the wound might
need stitches. A delay can increase the rate
of wound

13. Bone fracture
• The most common injuries include fractured wrists, hands,
collarbones and bones in the ankle and feet.
• Stress fractures are very common in sports which involve repetitive
movements; long distance runners often suffer from stress
fractures in the foot, for example.
Symptoms of fractures
• Common symptoms include swelling, redness and pain;
• many fractures can be extremely painful and most will swell
immediately.
• More complex fractures may break the skin; in this case the injury
will be clearly visible and immediately diagnosable.
• Fractures generally restrict or prohibit movement in the area for a
period of time

15. Treating a fracture
• Application of ice to reduce swelling.
• Anti-inflammatory medication and pain relief
to ease pain and further reduce swelling.
• immobilisation for a period of time; this may
involve having a plaster cast fitted, wearing a
sling or using crutches; this will allow the bone
time to heal.
• a course of physiotherapy to strengthen the
area and improve flexibility and movement.

16. Head injury
• concussions
a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that
happens when the brain is shaken hard
enough to bounce against the skull.
• Contusion
a bruise on the brain that can cause
swelling, and a hematoma, which
is bleeding in the brain that collects and
forms a clot.
• A skull fracture
pieces of bone can cut into the brain and
cause bleeding

17. Indications of severe head trauma
• Changes in size of pupils
• Clear or bloody fluid draining
from the nose, mouth, or ears
• Convulsions
• Distorted facial features
• Drop in blood pressure
• Facial bruising
• Fracture in the skull or face
• Impaired hearing, smell, taste,
or vision
• Inability to move one or more
limbs
• Irritability
• Loss of consciousness
• Low breathing rate
• Restlessness, clumsiness, or lack
of coordination
• Severe headache
• Slurred speech or blurred vision
• Stiff neck or vomiting
• Sudden worsening of symptoms
after initial improvement
• Swelling at the site of the injury
• Persistent vomiting
Need to be managed by professional medical team!

18. Spinal cord injury