acute and chronic injuries

• acute injury 


  a sudden impact to the body
• Hard tissue 


  injuries which occur to bones, joints or cartilage ; 2 categories are fractures and dislocations
• fracture 


  an injury which has occurred due to an excessive load being applied to a bone; the bone deforms and fractures

  
  

  symptoms = pain, swelling, discolouration, immobility, deformation
• dislocation


  when a joint becomes dislodged from another and is moved from its original position, due to twisting or impact

  
  

  symptoms = pain, swelling, deformation, immobility
• soft tissue 


  injuries which occur to muscles, tendons and ligaments; 2 types are sprains and strains
• strain

  damaged muscle fibres or tendons often caused by rapid overstretching or contracting

  
  

  symptoms (dependent on grade ) = tender area, pain, swelling, loss of strength, bruising, discolouration
• sprain 


  the stretching or tearing of ligaments, which has moved a joint beyond its extreme range - due to twisting or bending action

  
  

  symptoms = pain, swelling, immobility
• chronic injury


  continuous stress to a part of the body built up by overuse or poor technique
• tennis elbow 


  repeated tennis strokes causes damage to a tendon on the outside of the elbow = extending
• golfer's elbow 


  repeated golf swings cause damage to a tendon on the inside of the elbow = pronating
• ITBS (iliotibial band syndrome)


  often occurs in running with repeated contractions causing friction against articulating bones
• stress fracture 


  an overuse injury where the repetitive loading of a bone occurs at a greater rate than which the bone can repair

  
  

  symptoms = pain, rare swelling and discolouration
• Acute soft injuries 


  muscle strain, ligament sprain, tendon tear
• acute hard injuries 


  fracture, dislocation, torn cartilage
• chronic soft injuries 


  tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, bursitis, shin splints, tendinosis
• chronic hard injuries

  stress fracture, chondromalacia
• Hip vs Shoulder joints

  the hip has a deep socket, whereas the shoulder has a shallow socket

  the hip has large surrounding muscles, whereas the shoulder has small surrounding muscles

  the hip has large strong ligaments, whereas the shoulder has small weaker ligaments
• contusion / haematoma 


  bruising caused by an impact which has ruptured blood vessels, leaving an area tender sore and possibly limiting mobility
• concussion


  traumatic brain injuries caused by an impact to the head which causes the brain to accelerate against the skull

  symptoms = confusion, headaches, dizziness, nausea, unconsciousness
• chondromalacia (runner's knee)


  and overuse injury which causes cartilage under the patella to deteriorate and soften

  symptoms = knee pain

  risk factors = hard surface, poor alignment, poor technique, flat feet
• compound fractures (open)


  the fractured bones break through the skin, creating a wound with a high risk of infection
• simple fractures (closed)


  the skin remains unbroken as the fracture causes little movement of the bone and therefore minimises the damage to the soft tissue surrounding it
• greenstick fracture 


  a splitting partial break in the bone resulting from a bending action
• transverse, oblique and spiral fractures 


  a crack perpendicular, diagonal or twisting diagonally across the length of the bone
• comminuted fracture 


  a crack producing multiple fragments of bone and a long recovery process
• impacted fracture 


  a break caused by the ends of bones being compressed together
• avulsion fracture 


  a bone fragment detached at the site of connective tissue attachment i.e. at either end of the bone
• sublaxation 


  an incomplete or partial dislocation
• shin splints / medial tibial stress syndrome


  chronic shin pain caused by the inflammation of muscles and stress on the tendon attachments to the surface of the tibia
• tendinosis 


  the deterioration of a tendon in response to chronic overuse and repetitive strain e.g. tennis elbow and Achilles tendinosis