Inflammation of the synovium, the smooth, lubricated lining of the ankle joint. The synovium’s lubricating fluid helps the ankle move freely and prevents bone surfaces from rubbing against each other. Synovitis is often a complication of an injury, such as a fracture, or of collagen diseases, such as gout or rheumatoid arthritis.
BODY PARTS INVOLVED
Ankle joint.
Synovial membrane surrounding the entire joint.
Space between the joint and the synovial membrane.
Causes
Any injury to the ankle and ankle joint.
Bacterial infection (frequently gonorrhea).
Metabolic disturbance, such as an acute attack of gout or rheumatoid arthritis.
Signs & Symptoms
Pain and heat in the ankle.
No visible ankle swelling. Swelling and fluid accumulation is deep within the joint.
Treatment
Follow your doctor’s instructions. These instructions are supplemental.
Obtain treatment for any underlying medical condition, such as gout or infection.
For greater comfort, keep the foot elevated whenever possible.
You may need a walking plaster boot cast for 10 to 14, days.
After the cast is removed, apply heat frequently. Use heat lamps, hot soaks, hot showers, heating pads, or heat liniments and ointments.
Take whirlpool treatments, if available.
Massage gently and often to provide comfort and decrease swelling.
Chronic synovitis may require ankle strapping tiny workout or competition.
Home Diet
During recovery, eat a well-balanced diet that includes extra protein, such as meat, fish, poultry, cheese, milk and eggs. Increase fiber and fluid intake to prevent constipation that may result from decreased activity. Your doctor may suggest vitamin and mineral supplements to promote healing.
Prevention
Tape the ankle securely from midfoot to midcalf before participation in contact sports. If taping is not possible, wear supportive elastic ankle wraps.
Protect the ankle with substantial support during sports activities for 12 months after a significant ankle injury.
Strain to any muscles or tendons that surround the ankle. Muscles, tendons and bones comprise units. These units stabilize the ankle and allow its motion. A strain occurs at the weakest part of a unit. Strains are of 3 types:
Mild (Grade I) – Slightly pulled muscle without tearing of muscle or tendon fibers. There is no loss of strength.
Moderate (Grade 11) – Tearing of fibers in a muscle, tendon or at the attachment to bone. Strength is diminished.
Severe (Grade III) – Rupture of the muscle-tendon-bone attachment with separation of fibers. Severe strain requires surgical repair. Chronic strains are caused by overuse. Acute strains are caused by direct injury or overstress.
BODY PARTS INVOLVED
Tendons and muscles surrounding the ankle.
Lower-leg bones (tibia and fibula) and foot bones.
Soft tissue surrounding the strained muscle and attached tendon, including nerves, periosteum (covering to bone), blood vessels and lymph vessels.
Causes
Prolonged overuse of muscle-tendon units in the ankle.
Single violent injury or force applied to the muscle-tendon unit in the ankle.
Signs & Symptoms
Pain when moving or stretching the ankle.
Muscle spasm in the calf.
Tenderness to the touch
Swelling in the ankle.
Calcification of the muscle or its tendon (visible with X-ray).
Inflammation of the sheath covering the tendon.
Treatment
Follow your doctor’s instructions. These instructions are supplemental.
Use instructions for R.I.C.E., the letters of rest, ice, compression and elevation.
Use ice massage 3 or 4 times a day for 15 minutes at a time. Fill a large Styrofoam cup and freeze. Tear a small amount of foam from the top so ice protrudes. Massage firmly over the Injured area In a circle about the size of a softball.
After the first 24 hours, apply heat instead of ice, if it feels better. Use heat lamps, hot soaks, hot showers, heating pads, or heat liniments or ointments.
Take whirlpool treatments, if available.
If a cast was used, wrap the injured ankle with an elasticized bandage between treatments after the cast is removed.
Massage gently and often to provide comfort and decrease swelling.
Home Diet
Eat a well-balanced diet that includes extra protein, such as meat, fish, poultry, cheese, milk and eggs. Increase fiber and fluid intake to prevent constipation that may result from decreased activity
Prevention
Participate in a strengthening and conditioning program appropriate for your sport.
Warm up before practice or competition.
Tape the ankle area before practice or competition.
A fracture, usually in either side of the ankle, often including a total tear of one or more ankle ligaments. A temporary dislocation of the ankle joint may also occur. Ankle sprains are among the most common injuries in sports.
BODY PARTS INVOLVED
Lowest part of the lower leg bones (tibia and fibula).
Ligaments on either side of the ankle that support the ankle joint.
Three main bones of the ankle joint (talus, tibia, and fibula) may be involved with the dislocation or sprain.
Blood vessels, nerves, periosteum (covering of bone), and other soft tissue close to the injury site.
Causes
Stress Imposed from either side of the ankle joint that temporarily forces or pries the ankle or heel bone (talus) out of its normal socket. The ligament or ligaments that normally hold the joint in place are stretched and torn
Signs & Symptoms
Severe ankle pain immediately after injury.
Popping or feeling of tearing in the outer or inner part of the ankle. Sometimes there will be a sensation that the ankle joint is dislocated or has popped back into joint.
Severe tenderness at the injury site.
The injured person usually falls at the time of injury and has difficulty walking.
General swelling throughout the ankle and foot.
Bruising immediately or soon after injury.
Treatment
Follow your doctor’s instructions. These instructions are supplemental.
Use instructions for R.I.C.E., the letters of rest, ice, compression and elevation.
Following surgery, the doctor may apply a stirrup boot splint from below the knee to the toes. Stirrup boots are less likely to cause problems with swelling than an immediate cast may cause. This will support the ankle effectively enough to walk on crutches, but you should not bear weight on the injured ankle.
When the swelling subsides several days later, sutures may be removed. The splint Is replaced by a walking-boot cast for 10 to 21 days. Start walking on the walking cast immediately.
After the cast has been removed, strapping or a brace will be necessary for at least 6 weeks.
Bathe and shower as usual after the cast is removed, even if sutures are still in place.
After cast removal, use frequent ice massage. Fill a large Styrofoam cup with water and freeze. Tear a small amount of foam from the top so ice protrudes. Massage firmly over the injured area in a circle about the size of a baseball. Do this for 15 minutes at a time, 3 or 4 times a day.
Apply heat instead of ice, if it feels better. Use heat lamps, hot soaks, hot showers or heating pads.
Take whirlpool treatments, if available.
Gentle massage will frequently provide comfort and decrease swelling.
Home Diet
Drink only water before manipulation or surgery to treat the fracture. Solid food in your stomach makes vomiting while under anesthesia more hazardous.
During recovery, eat a well-balanced diet that includes extra protein, such as meat, fish, poultry, cheese, milk and eggs. Increase fiber and fluid intake to prevent constipation that may result from decreased activity.
Prevention
Engage in vigorous presport strengthening and conditioning.
Wear high-top athletic Shoes for contact sports.
Have adequate taping (midfoot to midcalf) before participation in activities at risk.
Wear supportive elastic ankle wraps (not as good as tape, but better than nothing).
Support the ankle well during sports activities for 12 months after any significant ankle injury.
Achilles tendon contracture is a shortening of the Achilles tendon (tendon calcaneus or heel cord), which causes foot pain and strain, with limited ankle dorsiflexion. Achilles tendonitis is a painful and often debilitating inflammation of the Achilles tendon, also called the heel cord. The Achilles tendon is the largest and strongest tendon in the body. It is located in the back of the lower leg, attaches to the heel bone (calcaneus), and connects the leg muscles to the foot.
Causes of achilles tendon injury
There are several factors that can cause achilles tendonitis. The most common cause is over-pronation. Over-pronation occurs in the walking process, when the arch collapses upon weight bearing, adding stress on the achilles tendon.
Achilles tendon contracture may reflect a congenital structural anomaly or a muscular reaction to chronic poor posture, especially in women who wear high-heeled shoes and joggers who land on the balls of their feet instead of their heels. Other causes include paralytic conditions of the legs, such as poliomyelitis and cerebral palsy and improper shoe selection.
Signs and symptoms of achilles tendon injury
The main complaint associated with Achilles tendonitis is pain over the back of the heel. Sharp, spasmodic pain during dorsiflexion of the foot characterizes the reflex type of Achilles tendon contracture. In foot drop (fixed equinus), contracture of the flexor foot muscle prevents placing the heel on the ground. Some of the common symptoms are :-
Swelling over the Achilles tendon
Crackling or creaking sound when you touch or move the tendon.
Achilles tendinitis include pain when pushing off during walking or when rising on your toes, redness and swelling over your Achilles tendon.
Patients with tendinosis may experience a sensation of fullness in the back of the lower leg or develop a hard knot of tissue (nodule).
Home remedies for the treatment of achilles tendon
Rest and apply cold therapy.
Take help of sports injuries specialist who could tell some exercises.
Take Manganese: 25 to 100 mg twice a day for the first 2 weeks after injury, then 10 to 15 mg twice a day.
Include: fresh vegetables and fruits, flax seed meal, flax seed oil, deep water fish, fresh water, organically raised foods.
Wearing a cast or walking boot, which allows the ends of your torn tendon to reattach themselves on their own. This method can be effective, and it avoids the risks, such as infection, associated with surgery.
Achilles tendon contracture is treated conservatively by raising the inside heel of the shoe (in the reflex type); gradually lowering the heels of shoes (sudden lowering can aggravate the problem), and stretching exercises, if the cause is high heels; or using support braces or casting to prevent foot drop in a paralyzed patient.
Alternative therapy includes using wedged plaster casts or stretching the tendon by manipulation. Analgesics may be given to relieve pain.
To help prevent an Achilles tendon injury, gently stretch your Achilles tendon and calf muscles before taking part in physical activities.
Apply ice to your Achilles tendon after exercise.
Alternate high-impact sports, such as running, with low-impact sports, such as walking, biking or swimming.
For patients who aren’t paralyzed, teach good foot care, and urge them to seek immediate medical care for foot problems. Warn women against wearing high heels constantly, and suggest regular foot (dorsiflexion) exercises.
Abdominal injuries are divided into two injuries :-
Blunt injuries (non penetrating injuries).
Penetrating injuries.
Blunt and penetrating abdominal injuries may damage major blood vessels as well as internal organs. Their most immediate life-threatening consequences are hemorrhage and hypovolemic shock; later threats include infection. The prognosis depends on the extent of injury and on which organs are damaged, but it’s generally improved by prompt diagnosis and surgical repair.
Causes
Blunt (non penetrating) abdominal injuries usually result from motor vehicle accidents, falls from heights, or athletic injuries.
Penetrating abdominal injuries are caused from stab and gunshot wounds.
Signs and symptoms
Depending on the degree of injury and the organs involved, symptoms vary as follows:
Penetrating abdominal injuries cause obvious wounds. For example, gunshots often produce both entrance and exit wounds, with variable blood loss, pain, and tenderness. These injuries often cause pallor, cyanosis, tachycardia, shortness of breath, and hypertension.
Blunt abdominal injuries cause severe pain (such pain may radiate beyond the abdomen, for instance, to the shoulders), bruises, abrasions, contusions, or distention. They may also result in tenderness, abdominal splinting or rigidity, nausea, vomiting, pallor, cyanosis, tachycardia, and shortness of breath. Rib fractures often accompany blunt injuries.
In both blunt and penetrating injuries, massive blood loss may cause hypovolemic shock. In general, damage to solid abdominal organs (liver, spleen, pancreas, and kidneys) causes hemorrhage; damage to hollow organs (stomach, intestines, gallbladder, and bladder) causes rupture and release of the organs contents (including bacteria) into the abdomen, which, in turn, produces inflammation.
Home remedies for the treatment of injuries
Blunt abdominal injuries
Apply heat for example with a hot water bottle or with electric heating belt(after the first 48 hours of injury).
If the pain is high up in your abdomen and occurs after meals, antacids may provide some relief, especially if you feel heartburn or indigestion. Avoid citrus, high-fat foods, fried or greasy foods, tomato products, caffeine, alcohol, and carbonated beverages.
Take help of sports injuries specialist who could tell some exercises.
However no home remedies is available for penetrating injuries. This injuries require emergency treatment to control hemorrhage and prevent hypovolemic shock, by infusion of I.V. fluids and blood components. After stabilization, most abdominal injuries require surgical repair; some patients, however, require immediate surgery. Analgesics and antibiotics increase patient comfort and prevent infection. Most patients require hospitalization; if they’re asymptomatic, they may require observation for only 6 to 24 hours.
Diagnosis
A history of abdominal trauma, clinical features, and laboratory results confirm the diagnosis and determine organ damage. Consider any upper abdominal injury a thoracicoabdominal injury until proven otherwise. Diagnostic studies vary with the patient’s condition but usually include:
chest X-rays (preferably done with the patient upright, to show free air)
examination of stool and stomach aspirate for blood
blood studies (decreased hematocrit and hemoglobin levels point to severe blood loss; coagulation studies evaluate hemostasis; white blood cell count is usually elevated but doesn’t necessarily point to infection; type and cross match to prepare for blood transfusion).
arterial blood gas analysis to evaluate respiratory status
serum amylase levels, which often may be elevated in pancreatic injury
aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels, which increase with tissue injury and cell death .
excretory urography and cystourethrography to detect renal and urinary tract damage.
Prevention
Eat small meals more frequently.
Drink plenty of water each day.
Apply a sterile dressing to open wounds. After assessing the patient, splint a suspected pelvic injury by tying the patient’s legs together with a pillow between them. Try not to move the patient.
Regular exercise also improves your body image and increases your energy level. It helps control weight and reduces stress.
If you are an athlete engaged in a competitive sport, or if you are a fitness enthusiast participating in a regular exercise program, you are familiar with the many benefits of regular physical activity. If you do not participate in a sport or fitness program, the following suggestions will help you choose and begin the right program for you. Exercise comes in many forms-everyone should be able to find some activity enjoyable.
Injuries Prevention
To prevent injuries it is necessary to have information about the factors that contribute to their occurrence. With this information we may understand the options for prevention. Effective injury prevention requires a multifaceted, multidisciplinary approach. Up to 50 percent of youth sports injuries are preventable, and parents and coaches can reduce injuries in young athletes by 80 percent if they follow some simple tips:
Warm up. Before you begin the physical workout, warm-up your muscles for 10 minutes with light exercise.
Don’t overdo it. Overexertion is the primary cause of injuries in adolescents.
Try variety. Your child shouldn’t focus on just one sport. They need to develop strength everywhere.
Pump iron later. Hold off on weight training until it’s appropriate. Children can’t develop strength with weights until puberty and they need to be supervised when they do start using weights.
Build stronger girls. Because they lack testosterone, girls are more susceptible to injury. Because of that, girls need to focus on strength-training more than boys.
Focus on fitness. Fitness training should be included in all practices.
Listen to pain. Young athletes should not be encouraged to push through pain.
Even with proper conditioning, equipment and other precautions you may still develop pain from exercise. If so, what you do immediately can prevent the pain from becoming a chronic problem. At the first sign of pain stop or ease back on your sport immediately. Apply ice for 15 to 20 minutes several times a day and elevate the injured area.
If you still have pain after two or three days, you should see your physician.
