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 how they can be treated at home and when to know if it’s an emergency.

Causes of Strains, Sprains, and Other Injuries

Our bodies work hard day after day, so an occasional strain or sprain isn’t uncommon. Certain situations 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

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 of the body 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 tendons that connect muscles to bones or of the muscles themselves.

Risk Factors for Injury

Anyone can experience a sprain or strain or broken bone, 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.
  • Environment. Wet, slippery, or icy surfaces are treacherous for walking. These aren’t risk factors you can control, but being aware of when they’re around will help you avoid an injury.
  • Fatigue. When you’re tired, you don’t carry your body properly. Being tired means you’re less likely to practice good form. Schedule days off between exercise so your body can rest and heal.
  • Improper Use of Equipment – Ill-fitting or worn equipment will increase your risk for a sprain or strain. It’s important you keep your shoes, and any necessary gear maintained.
  • Skipping the Warm-Up – Warming up and cooling down after exercise or athletic activity helps you prevent injury. Warming up gently stretches the muscles and increases your range of motion. A cool down stretch helps strengthen your muscles for better joint support.

sprained ankle

How to Treat Injuries At-Home

Immediately after an injury, you may need to restrict movement to reduce aggravation to the area but not rest so much that tissue strength is compromised. Pain should be your guide as to how much activity to do.

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

The principles behind RICE are as follows:

  • 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.

However, 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 Tylenol, for pain relief can help provide comfort, but overuse of the medication could cause damage to the liver.

If symptoms of the injury persist or worsen, it’s important to consult a healthcare 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)

  • Heavy bleeding or open wounds where the bone may pierce 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 and 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.

Injury Prevention Tips

Prevention is key. As we age, the body becomes more prone to musculoskeletal injuries, and it takes longer to recover from them.

Stretch: pre-and post-workout stretching prepare the body for activity and lower body temperature and heart rate after it to signal the body to begin the recovery process.

Add variety: switching up your workouts or physical activity engages different muscle groups, helping to prevent injury by avoiding 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.

Properly hydrate: hydration aids in cooling down after activity, and it helps with circulation 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.

PRESNow Urgent & Emergency Care

We’ve Got You Covered with an ER and Urgent Care All Under One Roof

Unlike most ERs or urgent care centers in the area, PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care in Albuquerque, patients are only billed for the level of services they need. The ER and urgent care are open 24 hours a day, every day. No appointment is required for in-person visits.

PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care has four convenient locations:

  • PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care Paseo/San Pedro is located at 6400 Paseo Del Norte Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113, and may be reached at 505-596-2100.
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  • PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care Menaul/Pennsylvania is located at 7400 Menaul Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110, and may be reached at 505-596-2400.