Soft tissue injuries are those that occur to the muscles, skin and connective tissues in your body. These injuries include repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis, but they can also occur as a result of a fall or car accident, to name just a couple of causes. While each case is different, treatments for soft tissue injuries can help reduce pain and swelling, and your therapy also can include treatments to help restore your previous activity level.
Contusions and lacerations to the face and scalp are a common occurrence, particularly in sports such as football, ice hockey, martial arts and racquet sports. ‘Examination should include palpation of the underlying bone to detect bony tenderness. Neurological examination is required if there is a history of loss of consciousness or suspected skull fracture. Begin immediate management with ice and pressure to reduce local swelling. Control bleeding with direct pressure over the wound using sterile gauze. A player with a bleeding wound must be removed from the field of play immediately as there is concern that the presence of blood may increase the risk of hepatitis B or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection for other players.
Categories Included in Facial Injuries are:
- Nose
- Ears
- Eyes
- Teeth
- Facial Bones
Nose
Nasal injuries are common in contact sports such as football and boxing.
Ear
Ear injuries in sport are not common. The most frequent injury is a contusion to the ear known as an auricular hematoma.
Eye
Eye injuries are seen most commonly in stick sports, racquet sports, especially squash, and contact sports.’ All eye injuries, even those that appear to be minor, require thorough examination. All serious eye injuries should be referred immediately to an ophthalmologist. The most difficult dilemma for the clinician in dealing with eye injuries is determining which injury is serious and requires immediate referral.
Teeth
Collisions with opponents during contact sports are the most common cause of dental injuries. Direct blows from equipment such as hockey sticks and bats may also injure teeth.
Fractures of facial bones
In sport, facial fractures may result from blows by implements such as bats or sticks, equipment such as sticks and from collision injuries. Mountain biking is a sport that causes a significant proportion of facial injuries. It appears that eye
wear can protect against facial injuries.
Physical Therapy to restore strength to the area affected by your soft tissue injury involves helping restore your ability to function on a daily level. The modalities used to achieve this goal include exercises to help stabilize your affected muscles while strengthening them in order to return to your previous activity level. This can involve exercises performed with weights, resistance bands or even exercise balls.