Breaks, Strains and Sprains: Home Care and When to Go to the Emergency Room

Sprains and strains are some of the most common injuries. Sprains, strains and breaks can be incredibly painful and sometimes difficult to tell apart. Learn about the most common injuries that affect bones, muscles and ligaments and learn when they can be treated at home and when it’s time to go to the emergency room.

Causes of strains, sprains and other injuries

Our bodies work hard day after day, so an occasional strain or sprain isn’t uncommon, yet certain situations may make you more likely to injure your joints. These include:

• Accidents, such as falling or slipping
• Athletic activities or exercise, including running or jogging
• Lifting heavy objects
• Overexerting yourself
• Prolonged repetitive motion
• Sitting or standing in an awkward position

Additional risk factors for injury

Of course, accidents happen but certain risk factors increase your odds for injury. These risk factors include:

• Being out of shape – Lack of regular activity leaves your muscles and joints weak and unable to fully support your movements. Talk to your doctor about starting an exercise program.
• Environment – Wet, slippery or icy surfaces are treacherous for walking. Though you can’t control these factors, being aware of dangerous conditions may help you avoid an injury.
• Over exercising and fatigue ­– When you’re tired, and you continue to exercise, you may be less likely to practice good form. Schedule days off between exercise so your body can rest and heal. It’s also a good practive to vary your workouts to engage different muscle groups and avoid overuse injuries. Training diversity, or cross-training, allows the body to adapt to a wide variety of stressors, which can lead to more optimal fitness levels.

• Improper use of equipment – Ill-fitting or worn equipment will increase your risk for a sprain or strain. It’s important you maintain your shoes and any necessary gear.

• Skipping the warmup – Warming up and cooling down after exercise or athletic activity helps you prevent injury. Pre-workout stretchingprepares the body for activity, and post-workout stretching lowers body temperature and heart rate to signal the body to begin the recovery process.

• Improper hydration – Hydration aids in cooling down after activity and helps to deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout the body to enhance recovery. Hydration also keeps the joints properly lubricated to reduce injuries and improve range of motion.While the ideal liquid intake varies slightly by age, weight and activity level, women should aim for at least 11 cups of water daily, while men should strive for about 15 cups on an average day. Increase fluid intake in hot weather and when recovering from an illness.

Common injuries

• Dislocations: the separation of two bones at the joint, often resulting from a direct blow to the body due to a fall or contact sport
• Fractures: a partial or complete break in any bones due to repeated stress or a single trauma
• Overuse injuries: damage to bones, ligaments, tendons or muscles caused by repetitive stress on these structures
• Sprains: tears or overstretching of the fibrous connective ligaments that link bones to other bones
• Strains: tears or overstretching of the muscles or the tendons that connect muscles to bones

How to treat injuries at home

Immediately after an injury, pain should be your guide as to how much activity to do.

You may need to restrict movement to reduce aggravation to the area but not rest so much that tissue strength is compromised.

The RICE protocol can help to provide short-term comfort to mild strains and sprains:

• Rest (avoiding use of the injured area)
• Ice (applying ice packs to the affected area to cool the tissue, relieve pain and reduce swelling)
• Compression (wrapping the injured area with an elastic bandage to reduce swelling and provide support)
• Elevation (keeping the injured area raised above the level of the heart to drain fluid away from the injury and reduce swelling)
   

Typically, people are advised to use the RICE approach on soft-tissue injuries for the first 48 to 72 hours following the injury.

The body’s inflammatory response to an injury is a built-in mechanism to help the tissue heal. The pain, redness and heat you experience where the injury occurred are signs that this is happening. Swelling is part of this process too, as your body rushes more blood to the area to help with healing.

For further at-home treatment, using acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), and naproxen (Aleve) for pain relief can help provide comfort, but read label directions and avoid overuse of the medication.

If symptoms of the injury persist or worsen, it’s important to consult a health care provider for a diagnosis and treatment plan, as more serious cases may require more attention.

When to Go to the Emergency Room for an Injury

This guide explains when common injuries require urgent care or emergency attention:

1. Broken Bones (Fractures)

• Bleeding or open wounds where the bone has pierced the skin
• Inability to move the affected area, such as an inability to walk if the leg is broken
• Numbness, tingling or loss of circulation in the affected area, indicating nerve or blood vessel damage
• Severe pain that doesn’t improve or gets worse with time
• Visible deformity of the bone, which may appear out of place or angled abnormally

2. Strains (Tears of Muscles or Tendons)

• Inability to move the affected muscle or joint
• Muscle spasms or sensations of weakness, particularly after the injury
• Severe pain that doesn’t improve with rest or basic treatment
• Swelling or bruising that appears quickly

3. Sprains (Ligament Tears)

• Deformed appearance of the joint or inability to move it
• Joint instability where the joint feels loose or wobbly
• Severe swelling and bruising around the injured joint
• Unable to bear weight or put pressure on the joint

If there’s any doubt about the severity of the injury, it’s always best to seek medical attention immediately to avoid complications.

We’ve got you covered with ER and Urgent Care all under one roof

Before encountering medical problems, learn where you can get help fast. Make a list of the emergency and urgent care offices near you and save them in your phone. For life-threatening medical emergencies, call 911 immediately or go to the emergency room.

At UF Health Emergency & Urgent Care Centers, our primary goal is to provide the residents of Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia with exceptional service, while ensuring they are charged only for the level of care they need.Our combined emergency room and urgent care is fully equipped to handle everything from allergies to fractures to chest pain, with on-site labs, CT, ultrasound and X-ray, all under one roof. The ER and urgent care centers are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
No appointment is necessary — just walk in when you need care!

Find the UF Health Emergency & Urgent Care Center in Jacksonville nearest you..