How to deal with minor trauma at home

by Dr ShreedharArchik, Consultant, Orthopaedics, Global Hospital, Mumbai.

Did you fall accidentally while climbing stairs? Is that leg strain and sprain robbing your peace? Read on to know how to handle them at home.

Minor injuries like falls and sprains happen every day. Furthermore, they are also easy to treat at home. But, you need to know what to do and avoid, while dealing with these injuries. You can opt for RICE.

A slip and fall can change your day, perhaps your life too. You may slip or fall anywhere and get frightened due to their suddenness. It is n- brainer that they can be quite painful, and take a toll on you. Likewise, strains and sprains are common as well, and will require immediate attention at home. A strain is hen a muscle has stretched too far and partly tears. Moreover, it can look bruised, and give a tough time to you. One may encounter pain, soreness, and swelling too. While a sprain can be described as a more serious injury that may include the tearing of ligaments. You will be shocked to know that in a mild sprain, the ligament is overstretched. Not only this, there can be a partial or full tearing of the ligament owing to those sever sprains. Hence, your doctor will recommend Rest Ice Elevation Compression (RICE) which is the best method to deal with these minor injuries.

In case you have a sprain/ strain/ fall/ hurt your ankle, you should opt for a RICE method as one of your first treatments. It is a simple self-care method which can help you get rid of swelling, pain and aid recovery.

Here, we explain you the RICE method:

Rest: Are you aware? Pain is your body’s signal of telling you that something is wrong. Thus, when you are hurt, you must immediately stop the activity, and get that much-needed rest.

Ice: You MUST apply ice or cold compression on the area where you have an injury, several times a day. Doing so can help you reduce swelling, and give a cooling effect.

Compression: You should compress the area with a crepe bandage to prevent swelling and inflammation.

Elevation: This means raising the sore body part above the level of your heart. It can lower pain, swelling and throbbing.

This method can help one get considerable relief. Moreover, two more things can be done along with the RICE method.

Prevention of injury: If you are a regular sports person you can prevent these minor sprains and strains by warming up before the game, and then cooling down after the game. Injuries are commonly seen if people forget to do so. Thus, taking precautions is the need of the hour.

Referral:  You need to know when you MUST stop treating a person at home and take him/her to the hospital. So, if you notice the arm or leg deformity or see that the person is unable to walk properly, feeling dizzy, and the pain  and swelling refuses to go then should stop treating that person at home, and take him/her to the hospital immediately.

Take-home message: Even after opting for a RICE method, if the pain refuses to go away, then you must consult your doctor. Also, remember that you must avoid using over-the-counter medications without your doctor’s prescription as doing is a strict no no.