What is first aid when experiencing a sports injury?

Currently, people have started to pay attention to their health and have started doing more sports activities. By definition, sport is a structured and planned activity that aims to improve fitness and health in a person's body. Exercise has many benefits, starting with the respiratory system, heart, and blood vessel systems. Not less important, exercise is also beneficial for the musculoskeletal system (muscles, connective tissue, nerves, and bones and joints). However, the risk of injury can also occur when we exercise, which can harm our body.

What should we do to avoid injury while exercising?

• Warm up before doing exercise.
• Choose a sport that you like so that you can do it consistently and continuously.
• Check your condition before exercising, such as your breathing ability, heart ability, musculoskeletal condition, or whether there are metabolic diseases that require supervision while exercising.
• Check body posture. There are several body postures that can increase the risk of injury, such as someone who has general hyperflexion or ligaments that are too flexible. Or other postures such as scoliosis, or lack of balance between the right and left feet, flat feet is also a posture condition that has a high risk of injury when exercising.
• When starting exercise, don't start with heavy portions right away; pay attention to the duration, frequency, and intensity. Start at a low level first. And try to take a break for one day for our bodies to recover.

What is first aid for sports injuries? 

When an injury occurs while exercising, first make sure the injury is on hard parts, such as bones and joints, or soft parts. The principle is that if an injury occurs, don't massage and apply the RICE concept (rest, ice, compression, and elevation).

Rest: Immediately stop physical activity when an injury occurs. This aims to rest the body to stop injuries and speed up the recovery period after an injury.
Ice (ice compress): compress ice on the injured area of the body. This is intended to reduce pain and swelling. Cold temperatures make the injured area less painful. Avoid applying ice directly to the skin surface. Apply ice with a towel or cloth. Then compress the wound area for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, and do this 2 to 3 times a day.
Compression: This is done by wearing a bandage or elastic bandage. This is to prevent swelling in the wound area. Avoid wrapping too tightly.
Elevation (Lifting the Injured Part Higher): Elevating the injured body part is done to minimize swelling. For example, if the part of the body that is injured is a leg, then the elevation technique can be done by placing the leg straight and supporting it with a pillow so that the leg remains in a higher position when sitting or sleeping.

Hermina friends, see the explanation about first aid for sports injuries and how to prevent them in full on the Hermina Hospitals YouTube channel! (Click here)