- bruise; - sprain; - dislocation; - fracture.
Following a blow, and leaving aside the grazes and scrapes that can be dealt with by simple dressings, we will consider the main injuries caused by a blow, in increasing order of severity:
- bruise;
- sprain;
- dislocation;
- fracture.
Bruises
A blow against a hard surface can crush the soft parts, such as the subcutaneous tissues (dermis), the layers of connective tissue (the tissues linking the organs) and the muscle tissue. Because of the crushing, and depending on its intensity, blood can leak out, usually from the capillaries and in more serious cases from veins, forming a haematoma (popularly called "the bump"). We are dealing with haematomas of greater or lesser size depending on the force of the blow. When larger veins break we are talking about internal bleeding, almost never easy to diagnose but with potentially dangerous consequences.
Symptoms:
The injured person will feel intense pain in the affected tissues. The difficulty in moving will be all the more noticeable if the tissue hit is a muscle rather than simply a surface area.
After a while the area that was hit will become red and swollen. The swelling will tend to change: as the hours pass the colour will turn bluish, the typical sign of the haematoma underneath.
What to do:
Apply ice, snow or a cold bottle: immediate cooling is crucial, it reduces exudation and the haematoma and, most importantly, it will shorten healing time. But it must be immediate, not hours later…
if possible, bandage the injured area with an elastic bandage without compressing the area too much;
do not massage the area, to avoid further bleeding;
depending on the severity of the blow, consider whether to stop the hike.
Sprains
A sprain is that kind of abnormal movement that damages the joint capsule or the ligaments that contain and reinforce the capsule itself. With a sprain there is no separation or loss of connection between the parts of the joint. However, the injury can cause intense pain due to the elongation / stretching / tearing (in increasing order of severity) of these components of the joint.
Symptoms
The injured person, besides having felt a sharp stab of pain at the moment of the abnormal movement, will begin to feel persistent pain in the joint. This is due to the resulting effusion of fluid, which slowly builds up inside the joint and leads to further swelling. The greater the effusion in the joint, the more difficulty the injured person will have in moving.
What to do:
if possible, strap the joint or, if it is a shoulder or an elbow, try to immobilise it;
do not rotate or massage the injured joint;
give an anti-inflammatory so as to reduce the swelling as much as possible;
consider whether you can get back under your own steam or need to call Mountain Rescue.
If you are able to apply ice, put a cold pack directly on the injured area. Any cold object, even a small bottle, can be held against the area (contact with ice must be intermittent, otherwise we cause frostbite damage).