HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 23014, 4 October 1944, Page 8

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

TREATMENT OF SPRAINS (Prepared and issued by the Health Department) A sprain is usually a simple accident, but it is an extremely painful business, no matter how it is caused. The joints, as most people know, are tied together with fibrous ligaments from one bone to another, and when we wrench a joint accidentally, we overstretch, or perhaps tear, the ligaments found the joint. The most common joint affected is the ankle, and a strain in this region causes temporary disablement. Symptoms of a sprain are pretty well known. When it happens there is intense pain at the site, the joint can’t be used, tenderness sets in and swelling rapidly follows. After a day or two discoloration is noticed—that is the deep bleeding reaching the surface. Treatment without a doctor might start by soaking the affected part in alternate basins of hot and cold water. If this is not available a firm bandage soaked in a cooling lotion such as methylated spirits and water, half-and-half, can be used. It you can still use the joint, bandage firmly. If not, rest a couple of days, gently massage from below upwards, and ease the joint carefully through its usual movements. A doctor will probably bandage the joint, and may order a soothing lotion or give a local injection or anaesthetic, which relieves the pain and reduces the swelling, and shortens the period of convalescence.