PLAYING SPORT SAFELY
 Playing sports can do you and your body a lot of good. Not only does it make you more enduring and tolerating when it comes to physical pressures, but it also makes you a generally healthier and happy person. You become physically stronger and it takes a lot of activities and effort before you get tired.
Who wouldn’t want that?
But then, playing sports has its temporary setbacks, too. Injuries are inevitable. You have to learn about the causes, treatments and everything in between about the injuries you get from sports to allow you to go on and enjoy playing repeatedly.
Prevention
- Wear and use proper gear for your sport, including helmets, pads, shoes, sunglasses, gloves and layered clothing where appropriate.
- Understand the rules and follow them. They are in place for a reason.
- Warm up slowly before activity. This is especially important in sports that require quick, dynamic movements, such as basketball, and soccer. This helps to increase heat throughout the body slowly and reduces the risk of tearing or straining muscles by increasing their ability to lengthen.
- Take a 2-3 minute jog, to raise a light sweat before you stretch
- Always use proper body mechanics in sports involving repetitive stress to the upper extremities. (tennis, baseball, golf).
RICE
Do you know the steps to take after a sports injury?
is for REST. Stop the activity you are currently performing. It is also a relative rest- in the first 72 hours you must be very careful to allow maximal healing. After this time you must then begin to gradually apply natural stresses to the damaged tissue.
is for ICE of course!! Ice is essential in the acute stages of injury. Ice means an ice pack, frozen bag of peas, crushed ice etc. wrapped in a wet tea towel applied to the affected area for 10-15 minutes every 2-3 hourly. This helps reduce and minimise the swelling.
Do not apply ice for longer than this as you may cause an ice burn, which will further damage the tissues.
is for COMPRESSION. Compression involves applying a constant force around the affected area to reduce swelling also. This is usually in the form of a compression bandage, which is applied from just below to just above the affected area. If in doubt, ask a physiotherapist or you GP how to apply.
is for ELEVATION. Many people think this means elevate above ground level. It will actually only be effective if elevated above the level of the heart. This assists the flow of blood back to the heart.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO CONSULT YOUR GP OR PHYSIOTHERAPIST FOR A PROPER ASSESSMENT OF YOUR INJURY
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