Prevention of wrist sprain

Introduction

Sprained wrist is one of the most common causes of painfulsensations in the wrist. This type of injury is usually caused by falling on anoutstretched hand which further leads to the tearing or stretching of theligaments located in the wrist. Such falls usually occur in certain sportswhich include volleyball, baseball, football, soccer, snowboarding and inlineskating. The ligaments in the wrist are prone to tearing and stretching, andthe risk of injury is further increased if those tissues are weak orinflexible. One needs to understand the different between a strain and asprain, because those two often cannot be differentiated. A strain affects thetendons and the muscles. For those who do not know, tendons are the tissueswhich connect the bones and the muscles. Strains may range from simpleoverstretches to partial or complete tears. Sprain only affects the ligaments. Forthose who do not know, ligaments are the fibrous tissues which connectdifferent types of bones.

Signs & Symptoms

Sprains occur much more often than strains because there area large number of ligaments which are responsible for supporting the boneslocated in the wrist. Wrist sprains can easily be characterized by certaintypes of symptoms such as swelling, tenderness and painful sensations at theaffected area. Redness and warmness to the touch along with a dull deep ache,decreased range of motion and bruising are also among the most common symptomsof wrist sprains. Those who suffer from such symptoms need to pay a visit to aphysician in order to determine whether there are any fractures. There are three different grades of wristsprains which include mild, moderate and severe.

Treatment

The best and the most common treatment method for all thosewho suffer from sprained wrists is R.I.C.E. This stands for rest, ice,compression and elevation, and it is actually a very functional pattern for thetreatment. Rest means that one should not use the injured wrist for two days,get proper rest and wait until the swelling and the pain subside significantly.Ice means that the wrist needs to be iced by cold compresses for 15 minutesseveral times per day, in order to subside the swelling. Compression means thatelastic compression bandages need to be used so that the swelling and the rangeof motion can be limited. Elevation means that the injured wrist needs to bekept higher than the heart as much as possible in order to reduce the swelling.Over the counter medicaments may also be helpful. Some cases may requirebracing, immobilization, rehabilitation exercises and surgery.