What is a Sprain?
Musculoskeletal Injuries
- Partial or complete tearing of ligaments and tissues at the joint.
Basic Human Anatomy
What is a Musculoskeletal Injury?
Musculoskeletal System Injuries
- A Musculoskeletal injury refers to damage of muscular or skeletal systems, which is usually due to a strenuous activity.
There are four types of Musculoskeletal injuries.
- The body has over 600 muscles
- Muscles are the only tissues which contract and relax ; they cause our body to move
- Injuries to the brain, spinal cord, or other nerves can affect muscle control
- The skeleton is composed of over 200 bones
- Joints are formed when two or more bones come together
- Fractures
- Dislocations
- Sprains
- Strains
What is a fracture?
What is a Strain?
What is a Dislocation?
A break or disruption in bone
- open - the skin is pierced by broken bone fragments
- closed - the broken bones do not penetrate the skin
- An extreme stretching or tearing of muscle and/or tendon.
- Displacement or separation of a bone from its normal position at the joint
Recognizing Musculoskeletal Injuries
Care for Musculoskeletal Injuries
Common signs of a musculoskeletal injury:
- Pain
- Swelling
- Deformity
- Discoloration of the skin (bruising)
- Inability to use the affected part normally
- Rest the injured part
- Immobilize the injury
- Apply a cold source
- Elevate the injury ( if it doesn't cause pain)
Relation to the real world
Musculoskeletal injuries occur all the time and should always be taken seriously, whether small or severe any injury should be treated correctly to keep it from getting worse. Especially when you are an athlete because not properly caring for a simple injury can cost you your season.
For example if a wrestler sprains his wrist which is very common, choosing to continue to wrestle and apply pressure to that wrist could lead to an even more severe injury or a fracture.