Acute and Chronic Injuries

Fractures

A partial or complete break in a bone due to an

excessive force that overcomes the bone's potential

to flex

Cause: They usually come from a direct force (from a collision or object) or an indirect force (falling or poor technique)

Signs & symptoms: Common indications are pain at the fracture site, inability to move or unnatural movement of the injured area, deformity, swelling, dislocation

Severity: All fractures are serious; however, the signs and symptoms, and length and type of treatment will depend on the type pf fracture diagnosed

Decided which description and picture goes with each type of fracture

Dislocation

Occurs when one bone is displaces from another, moving them out of their original position

Cause: They usually occur from a direct force (collision or object) or an indirect force (fall) pushing the joint past its extreme range of motion

• Typical sites for dislocation are the shoulder, hip, knee, ankle, elbow, fingers and toes

Signs & symptoms: servere pain at the injury site, loss of movement, deformity, swelling, or a 'pop' feeling

Treatment: They all require treatment by a medical practitioner to ensure the bones are replaced in the correct alignment without causing further damage to the joint

Sublaxation

an incomplete or partial dislocation

• These often cause damage to the ligaments that connect bone to bone
• When overstretched, ligaments can permanently lengthen, which decreases joint stability and increases the likelihood of recurrent dislocations
• This may result in surgeries and compromise a long-time playing career

Contusion and haematoma

Contusion

A contusion, aka a bruise, is an area of skin or tissue in which the blood vessels have ruptured (torn)

Cause: They are caused by a fall or direct impact from a player or object

Severity: Most are minor and heal rapidly wothout break in play or training

• Severe contusions, however, can cause deep tissue damage, preventing participation in sport for months

Haematoma

The damaged tissue leads to a haematoma: localised congealed bleeding from the ruptured blood vessels, which is relatively or totally confined to a tissue - for example, a muslce

Signs and symptoms: include swelling and discoloration

Severity: They can range from superficial small bruises to deep bleeds that seep into surrounding tissues

Sprain

A sprain is damage (overstretch or tear) to the ligaments which connect bone to bone and support a joint

Cause: It is usually caused by a sudden twist, impact or fall that forces the joint beyond its extreme range of motion

• They most commonly occur to the ankle of games players and athletes, but also to the knees of footballers and skiers and the thumbs and wrist of an athlete bracing a fall

Signs and symptoms: include pain, swelling, bruising, inability to bear weight and possible dislocation

Severity: ranges from overstratch of a few ligament fibres (first-degree sprain) to a partial tear (second-degree sprain), a total rupture (tear) or detachment of a ligament from the bone (third-degree sprain)

Strain

They are a damage (overstretch or tear) to the muscle

fibres or tendon connecting muslce to bone

Cause: It is usually caused by overstretching a particular area or contracting muscle fibres too quickly, resulting in overstretch, and partial or complete rupture of the muscle fibres or tendon

• They most commonly occur in sports that invlove dynamic lunging and explosive movements, such as lunging to return a drop shot in badminton and sprinting out of the blocks in the 100m, and contact activities such as tackling in football

Signs and symptoms: include, pain on movement, swelling and discoloration or bruising

Severity: ranges from minor damage to the fibres (grade 1), to more extensive damage but not completely rupture (grade 2), to a complete rupture (grade 3), which will require surgery and significant rehabilitation

Activity

Fill in the blanks:

A ________ is damage to the ligaments whereas a ________ is damage to the muslce or tendons. A ________ is associated with overstretching an area or contracting muscle fibres too rapidly whereas a ________ is associated with a twist, impact or fall. A ________ is common in games players such as in netball and rugby whereas a ________ is common in explosive athletes such as sprinting and badminton players.

Abrasion

This is superficial damage to the skin caused by a scraping action

against a playing surface, such as falling or slipping on an athletics

track, netball court, or artifical surface, or clothing rubbing on the body,

such as chafing during a marathon

Signs and symptoms: If they cause as open wound, it may contain

dirt or gravel and require cleaning

• If a laceration (cut) is caused, medical attention may be required

for suturing (stitiching)

Most sports have blood rules requiring the player to leave the game until the bleeding stops, irrespective of the size of the injury

For example, in netball the presence of blood requires the official to stop the game and allow 2 minutes to stem the flow and decide whether the player is fit to continue

Blisters

• They are the separation of layers of skin where a pocket of fluid forms due to friction

• Although painful, they may not stop participation with treatment and they are preventable with the correct equipment, footwear and training load

Concussion

This is a traumatic brain injury resulting in a distrubance of brain function, such as headaches, dizziness, balance problems, nausea, and in around 10% of cases a loss of consciousness

Cause: It can be caused by a direct blow to the head or blows to other parts of the body, which cause rapid movement of the head and therefore can be common in sports such as boxing, rugby, football and horse riding

• The jelly-like brain floats in cerebrospinal fluid within the skull

• On impact the blow to the head accelerates to brain against the rough inner wall of the skull and then rebounds back against the other side

• This can cause swelling and a disruption in the biochemistry and electrial processes between the neurons in the brain, which lead to the confusion-like symptoms of a mild brain injury

• If a concussion or suspected concussion has occurred, it

is essential that the player is removed from play and seen

by professional

• If in doubt, sit it out!

Signs and Symptoms - task

Sort these symptoms into either: symptoms clearly indicating concussion or symptoms which may indicate concussion

• Dizziness
• Disorientation and confusion
• Visual problems
• Nausea or vomiting
• Faigue
• Dazed or blank expression
• Light sensitivity

• Post-traumatic seizure
• Lying motionless
• Slow to get up
• Grabbing or clutching head
• Loss of consciousness
• Balance problems
• Headache

Signs and symptoms

Symptoms clearly indicating concussion:

• Post-traumatic seizure
• Loss of consciousness
• Balance problems
• Disorientation and confusion
• Dazed or blank expression

Symptoms which may indicate concussion:

• Lying motionless
• Slow to get up
• Grabbing or clutching head
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Visual problems
• Nausea or vomiting
• Faigue
• Light sensitivity

Stress Fracture

A tiny crack in the surface of a bone caused by overuse

Sometimes referred to as a fatigue or insufficiency fracture

Cause: usually caused by fatigued muscles transferring their stress

overload to the bone tissue

Signs and symptoms: specfic spots of pain during physical activity

may indicate a stress fracture; however, the pain subsides with rest,

and using a typical X-ray, stress fractures are hard to spot

• Overtraining, intensity overload, unfamiliar surfaces and

inappropriate equipment all contribute to stress factures

Examples: distance running, tennis, gymnastics and basketball players, where the repetitive stress of the foot on the ground without sufficient rest periods can cause trauma.

• Most stress fractures occur in the lower body and fractures of the tibia are most common.

Osteoarthritis

• A degeneration of articular cartilage from the bone surfaces within a joint, causing pain and restricted movment.
• It is the most common for of joint disease, caused by the breakdown and loss of articular cartilage from the bone surfaces within a joint.
• Joints swell and underlying bone thickens and forms rough spurs (bone spurs: outgrowths of bone into a joint) making movement painful and severly restricted

Watch the video and make notes on the causes

of asteoarthritis

Shin Splints

A term used to describe chronic shin pain

Causes: as a result of repeated overuse the tibialis

anterior (anterior shin splints) and tibalis posterior

(posterior shin splints) can become injured through

excessive loading stress.

Signs and symptoms: this stress results in tenderness and inflammation, especially in the morning as muslces stiffen overnight

Severity: The tendons connecting muslce to the shin bone attach on the outer casting of the bone known as the periosteum

• In almost all cases the connection between the tendon and periosteum becomes inflamed, leading to pain in specific areas of the shin bone

Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS)

• There are several closely related conditions affecting the muslces, tendons, and bone surfaces; however, the most common form of shin splints is also known as medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS)
• It has been frequently reported by distance runners, dancers, football players, gymnasts and army recruits and is largely caused by overuse and overtaining on hard or uneven surfaces
• Runners often suffer shin splints at the beginning of training by doing 'too much, too soon' or abruptly changing training routines
• Being overweight, wearing inadequate footwear and poor leg biomechanics can also cause shin splints

Tendinosis

The deterioration of a tendon's collagen in

response to chronic overuse and reptitive strain

A tendon is a tough band of fibrous (aroudn 85%

collagen) connective tissue that connects muslce

to bone

Causes: repetitive strain causes small-scale injuriestaht are not given the time to heal and so accumulate, resulting in a chronic injury

Signs and symptoms: burning, stinging, aching, tenderness and stiffness, common in the wrist, forearm, elbow, shoulder, knee or heel

Athletes performing repetitive movements without the appropriate rest periods between training may develop tendinosis, such as:

• Archilles tendinosis: pain, tightness and deterioration in the tendon behind the ankle common in distance runners; a slow progression of pain which will lead to difficulty climbing stairs or running

• Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis): strenuous overuse of the tendons in the forearm during reoeated twisting actions can lead to microscopic tears, pain and tightness that limit movement; common in athletes who overtrain in racket sports or throwing activities

Activity

Categories the following injuries in a table as either acute or chornic and hard or soft tissue:

• Concussion
• Complete fracture
• Tennis elbow
• Sprain
• Stress fracture
• Tendinosis
• Strain
• Shin splints

Activity

Discuss with the class any previous sporting injuries.

Classify the type of injury: whether acute, chronic, hard tissue or soft tissue.