Initial Consideration of Your Injury
Only your physician or trainer can provide you with diagnosis and treatment recommendations. The following comments are generic sports treatment principles found in many sports manuals and first aid references. Always consult your physician for medical advice.
First: Do no harm. That is, do not make the injury worse by attempting to use it or return to sport/work without knowledge of the injury.
Emergencies: Include (but are not limited to) joint dislocations (obvious deformity of the joint or limb), neurologic compromise (numbness or altered sensation or inability to move the joint), vascular impairment, open wound, infection or severe pain. Seek medical advice immediately.
For Nonemergencies consider the long held recommendation of PRICE
Protect: Until medical profession can assess the situation, the joint may be comfortably padded and splinted for protection. Crutches or wheelchair are used for non-weightbearing at this point.
Rest: The body initiates a sequence of inflammation early post injury. Until the full extent is known, it is important to heed the body's signals of pain and avoid activities that increase it. This may seem like common sense and it is!
Ice: Ice slows the metabolism of the injured knee and may decrease blood flow to somewhat decrease the initial phase of inflammation. Ice also may somewhat decrease the sensation of pain. Ice packs (not colder than ice freezer packs) are place over a towel or cloth for 20min up to every 2 hours as needed. Never place the ice behind the knee as it may markedly cool an important nerve.
Compression: Mild compression applied initially by a medical professional may decrease the ultimate swelling. Untrained application may result in a dressing too tight, which could restrict venous or lymphatic return -- causing the leg, foot and ankle to swell -- or even decrease arterial flow if tighter. Caution is imperative.
Elevation: Elevation aid in the normal blood and lymph return from a limb to the body, which aids in decreasing swelling. The guideline is to elevate the injured area above the heart, thus propping the foot up on a footstool while sitting is not high enough.
In this day of over the counter medication proliferation, one may consider using a nonaspirin analgesic or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication (e.g. acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or naproxen) after carefully reading the package inserts and warnings always being aware of potential allergic reactions or drug interactions.
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