First Aid: Sprain
A bad thing happened today on my way out the door… I fell down two steps and sprained my foot. Yeah, major ouch!
My family immediately rushed to my aid and started pulling me up. Good thing I remembered my first aid training! NEVER MOVE AN INJURED PERSON. Moving would have caused more injury, since we didn’t know at that time how bad the sprain really was.
What’s a sprain? A sprain is an injury to a ligament caused by excessive stretching. The ligament can have tears in it, or it can be completely torn apart.
What to do in case of sprain? P.R.I.C.E.
- PROTECT. Don’t use the injured limb. Put a splint to immobilize it. Use crutches to keep from walking with the foot. There shouldn’t be any weight bearing on it.
- REST. Better to take it easy for a few days while the injury heals.
- ICE. This is immediate. Use a cold pack for the next 24-48 hours, intermittently applying it for 10 minutes each time. After the ice-pack treatment, you may use a warm pack until the swelling and pain subsides.
- COMPRESS. Wrap the injured area with a bandage to prevent inflammation. But at night (as I was advise today) I have to unwrap the bandage and let it swell if it has to.
- ELEVATE. Next to resting, elevate the injured area or limb preferably above the heart to discourage swelling.
Pain relievers and anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) and acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) may be helpful to manage pain during the healing process.
Hopefully I’ll be up and about in a week or so. Meantime, I am in crutches and splint, hopping my way around the house.
Tags: sprain, first aid, crutches, splint, protect, rest, ice-pack, compress, elevate, injury
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POSTED IN: First Aid and Safety
1 opinion for First Aid: Sprain
www.healthbookforyou.info » First Aid: Sprain
Jan 14, 2008 at 2:35 pm
[…] Grace put an intriguing blog post on First Aid: Sprain.Here’s a quick excerpt:A bad thing happened today on my way out the door… I fell down two steps and sprained my foot. Yeah, major ouch! My family immediately rushed to my aid and started pulling me up. Good thing I remembered my first aid training! … […]
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