Treat ‘small’ injuries quickly to prevent longer term problems

As a massage practitioner, I use various deep tissue techniques to help break down scar tissue and realign muscle fibres to help eliminate tension and assist recovery after injury. It can be painful and it may take a little while, but ultimately it can minimise or eliminate the risk of longer term problems, especially when used to treat sprains and strains.

I sprained the inside ligament on my knee when I fell awkwardly skiing in Germany a number of years ago and the pain was unbelievable! It felt like someone had stuck hot pins in my knee and I could put very little weight on it – which was a bit of a problem as we were not even a quarter of the way down the run! With the help and patience of my husband, we made our way excruciatingly slowly down the mountain.

As soon as we got back to the car I grabbed a ball of snow, wrapped it in a plastic bag and applied it to my elevated knee for a while, followed by using my scarf to apply compression. Within minutes of stopping moving it had seized up – which made getting up the 2 flights of stairs in our accommodation a great feat of bum shuffling!

Anyway, it became apparent the next morning that this was not a temporary problem and my skiing week was over so we managed to find a sports injury clinic where they diagnosed a sprain of the medial ligament (torn badly but not completely severed thankfully) and I left wearing an extended knee brace which remained on for the next 10 days. This was followed by intensive physiotherapy and massage for the next 3 months which completely restored all function, movement and strength in that knee.

Many minor injuries, if treated quickly and correctly, can heal completely and give no long term problems.  However, left untreated, small injuries can manifest into long term problems that may then take extensive treatment to correct.  Such examples include muscle and ligament sprains and strains.

If an injury site includes general soreness, swelling and/or bruising and is tender to the touch you may have a muscle strain.  When these symptoms occur around a joint and include pain when weight bearing then you may have a joint sprain.  Both of these can be self treated in the initial stages and they react very well to the immediate application of ice packs which can reduce the pain and minimise swelling and bruising (do not apply ice directly to the skin as this may cause ice burn).  Despite the injury to my knee it swelled very little and there was no bruising – both of with I attribute to the ice and compression treatments.

Use the RICE guide – Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.  Use ice for short periods until the skin turns white then remove until the colour returns and repeat this several times.  RICE is typically recommended for around 24 hours during the acute phase.   Elasticated bandages are useful to apply compression, use with extra padding around the injury site.

After care of sprains and strains includes treatment such as physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic and deep tissue massage. These forms of treatment should only be used once the acute stage has passed (usually 24-48 hours) and are highly effective at re-mobilising the area and correcting the alignment and function of the bones and/or soft tissues.

If the symptoms persist then you should visit your GP or if you suspect a break or fracture has occurred then get yourself straight down to A&E for an x-ray.

It really is worth seeking advice on what may seem to be a small injury (even something as innocent as tweaking your neck when you reach for something on the back car seat can lead to later problems) and get it treated straight away. It could save you a lot of pain and discomfort in the future.