If you’ve injured yourself and completed an injury assessment, the team at Fair Go Access advises you to get the ball rolling on treatment as soon as possible. Far too often, we see people who try to deal with injuries in the hope they’ll simply disappear but, unsurprisingly, they don’t. The hard truth, frequently realised too late, is that if you ensure adequate treatment following the injury and assessment, you’re less likely to require chronic injury management in the future.
If you’ve performed an acute injury assessment and discovered any of the following signs; swelling, deformity, pain even without bearing any weight, or wounds around the site of the injury without any obvious bleeding, it’s time to deal with it.
Take note of the location and intensity of the pain, if you heard anything crack or snap, and if you have pain from movement. This is the information you can give to your doctor or another medical health professional following the incident.
Stop whatever you were doing. Sometimes we want or are encouraged to keep persevering through the pain but, while sometimes we consider ourselves brave, often we’re only working our way towards further injury and the potential need for chronic injury management.
R.I.C.E. is nice. Rest is best. Ice will help with both pain and swelling. Compressing the area with a bandage will also assist against swelling as well as provide support. Elevating the injured part of your body above your heart will again help limit further swelling.
Having identified one of the signs of a fracture, dislocation, head injury, or any other issue you can’t treat yourself, it’s time to enlist the help of someone who can. Arrange for someone to get you to see a medical health professional, or when the situation requires it, an ambulance. From here, it is only through the help of x-rays and other diagnostic tools used by health professionals that adequate and effective treatment may begin.
In cases where injuries develop and require chronic injury management, services and support provided by Fair Go Access will be of integral benefit. Our professionals can provide physical therapy alongside ensuring any medication prescribed is taken at the right frequency.
To learn more about acute injury assessment and chronic injury management at home, contact Fair Go Access on 03 5298 2746.
