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It is an immediate treatment provided to injured person before actual medical assistance.

Importance of sports gear: Due to scientific research in the field of sports. gear products, a lot of advancements have been made in the manufacture of sports gear that can help athletes and sports persons in improving their performances.

These improvements have not only helped the players in performances but also helped in reducing injuries on playing fields. 

The need of proper protective sports gear has also increased due to possibility of large number of injuries taking place on the playing fields. Therefore players must ensure that they use only proper protective sports gear that are reliable and the same is required for practice as well as competitions. 

(a) Head gear (cricket, skating, cycling) 

(b) Flaying dresses 

(c) Swim suits 

(d) Mouth gear (in combetitive sports) 

(e) Shoes 

(f) Equipment. 

The requirements differ as per the game/sport. For example: 

(a) Volley ball: Basic equipment involves net, ball, antenae. Nowadays synthetic surface is used. Protective gear includes knee and elbow pads, skin guards, wrist band, flexible shoes with non-slipping sole also must have inbuilt shock-absorption to prevent player injury. 

(b) For cricket: Cricket bat. pads. guards, helmet and shoes. A variety of standard sports gear is available but the player chooses the best gear suited to him.

An incision in cut made into the tissues of the body to expose the underlying tissue, bone or organ.

The following are the cause of sports injuries. 

(a) Lack of fitness of player. 

(b) Lack of psychological readiness. 

(c) Equipment failure or fault. 

(d) Faulty skill actions. 

(e) Poor maintenance of play field. 

(f) Overtraining. 

(g) Because of non-qualified teacher/coach or his absence. 

(h) Not utilising protective guards.

(a) Sprain 

(b) Strain 

(c) Contusion 

(d) Abrasion 

(c) Incision

RICE is common first aid for sports injuries.

(a) to preserve life 

(b) to reduce pain 

(c) to protect the injury there and then only.

R - Stand for Rest. 

I - Ice application for first 2 days. 

C - Compression with the help of Bandage. 

E - Elevate to stop swelling and internal bleeding. 

R - Rehabilitation for complete heeling of injury.

Dislocation the bone is displaced from its original position.

Soft tissue injuries are the injuries in which there is localised inflammation caused due to some damage to skin or muscle tissues. These injuries are caused by overuse of affected part and sometimes there is a lot of pain around the affected part. Some of the soft tissue injuries are as follows: 

(a) Sprain 

(b ) Strain 

(c) Abrasion 

(d) Contusion 

(e) Laceration 

Sprain: When ligaments are stretched or torn but not with enough force to dislocate the joints. Sprain is caused directly or indirectly by a fall or a blow or knock or jump or slip or slide while walking or running. It is an injury to a joint which results in tearing of ligaments. It is associated with pain and discolouration, swelling and tenderness. In case of severe sprain. you are unable to move the affected body part or movement at joint. 

Strain: It is injury to muscles, generally known as 'muscle pull'. Strain causes tearing and overstretching of muscle fibres. It happens mostly to athletes (sudden overstretching of hamstring and quadricep muscles) and are common in basketball. 

Contusion: It is a muscle injury because of direct blow against skin or swelling and part of it becomes red then blue black.

Abrasion: It is a soft tissue injury. Abrasion is caused by friction with some equipment or fall. Abrasion is a scraping injury to the skin and part of skin is lost. 

In case of abrasion and laceration the following treatment is suggested. 

(a) Clean the surface of the affected part with some antiseptic cream. 

(b) Stop bleeding at the earliest by compression bandages. 

(c) Anti-tetanus injection should be taken as precaution measures till it heals up. 

(d) Repeat the dressing completely. 

In case of sprain and strain we follow the treatment of R.I.C.E. 

R : Rest to the injured part. 

I : Apply ice for first two days. 

C : Compress with bandage. 

E : Elevate the injured part to avoid swelling and pain

Ligament injury means rupture of tendons which causes severe pain and swelling around the injured part. There is tendeness and inflammation because of slip, collision with opponent. etc. we also call it sprain.

Delayed onset muscle soreness is the muscle pain or discomfort that occurs after unaccustomed vigorous exercise. There is stiffness and pain with movement. It may continue for several days.

It is an injury on the surface of the body produced by a sharp blow or fall. Usually the skin is not torn. If the skin breaks and bleeds, the injury is called laceration.

The environment may be any outdoor or indoor conditions, that potentially impacts on performance. The environment will include prevailing weather conditions, the physical nature of the venue, such as topography or altitude, as well as man-made factors such as pollution, traffic and stadium noise.

Joint injuries: It is an injury to a joint in which adjoining bones are displaced from original position. Dislocation is caused due to direct or indirect impact over the joint. Luxation means completely displaced and subluxation means it is partially dislocated. Dislocation is common in throwing events. It usually results in pain and swelling. Immediate care is required. One must approach a doctor as there is severe pain and one is not able to move the part. Joint injuries include shoulder dislocation, shoulder separation. finger dislocation, knee cap dislocation and radio-humeral joint injury.

Aim of rehabilitation: 

(a) To cure completely a person from which he/she might be suffering, so that the person is not dependent on family and can perform his essential activities of daily life. 

(b) To maintain the physical and psychological status of injured person. 

(c) To prevent re-occurrence of injury while maintaining the available strength and function of the affected and unaffected body parts. 

(d) The programme should be progressive in an orderly fashion through a number of planned stages. 

The athlete is psychologically motivated and supervised for the duration of programme. Early rehabilitation can minimize the effects of injury, therefore rehabilitation should begin at the same time as treatment of the injured part begins.

(a) Always do warm-up exercise before start of any activity. 

(b) Prepare yourself psychologically for the activity. 

(c) Always check the equipment before its use. 

(d) Use safety equipments related to the game. 

(e) Always drink a lot of liquid or fluid. 

(f) Do not train when you are very tired.

(a) Aware sports persons and athletes about sports injury. 

(b) Tn provide knowledge about causes of injury. 

(c) First aid and Rehabilitation assistance. 

(d) Preventive measures of injury.

Need of rehabilitation process: Rehabilitation is necessary because if the previous injury is not healed up properly with proper recovery, it can lead to various kinds of disabilities and there are chances of re-occurrence of injury. There is a need to cure completely a person from which he/she might be suffering so that a person is not dependent on family members and can perform essential activities of daily life. Early rehabilitation helps an injured person to cover in shortest possible duration of time. Need of Rehabilitation is as follows. 

(a) To keep the morphological and functional adaptation to physical exercise. 

(b) To regain physical fitness (original position before injury). 

(c) To avoid atrophy of the injured side by exercises with non-injured side arm or leg. 

(d) Io guarantee maximum degree of functional ability and make sportsman ready for systematic training.

First aid of sports injuries: P.R.I.C.E. is the best method to give first aid to an injured person. 

Protection: Immediately protect the person and calm down. Do not panic, call for help. 

Rest: Stop play and rest the injured part as soon as possible so that further injury may be avoided.

Ice: Apply ice on the injured area to check bleeding. Cold compression for 20 minutes at interval of 2 hours for first 24 to 48 hours. Do not apply ice directly.

Compression: After ice bandage area firmly but not too tight. Compress to stop internal bleeding. 

Elevate: We should elevate the injured part for relieving pain and reducing swelling. The injured limb is higher than heart. For example, put foot on stool if legs are injured.

An individual plays an important role to avoid any kinds of accidents and sports-related injuries. The reasons of injury can be error in sports training, improper sports equipment, climatic conditions, poor coaching, previous injury, lack of fitness components, anatomical abnormalities and inappropriate clothing and footwear. These are the basic reasons responsible for risk of accidents during sports participation. It is essential to prepare ourselves properly for sports activities. 

The following points should be kept in mind to reduce or prevent sports related accidents.

(a) Health and fitness: If you maintain your health and fitness level throughout your life you are less likely to get injury. Proper medical checkup on routine basis before participating in any activity is essential. 

(b) Proper training and coaching: It is responsible for reducing major accidents. A physical educator is responsible for structure and administration of physical training programme and athletes conduct on the playing field. He must have knowledge of sports psychology. safety and first aid training. 

(c) Protective equipment: It is essential to make sure that protective equipment is used while participating in sports activities during practice as well as during competitions. Sports equipment protects a sportsperson, allows freedom of movement and is safe and comfortable. Never play or enter the field without proper protective gear to avoid any accident in the field. Always check the equipment before use. 

(d) Environmental conditions: An individual should be aware of environment around him. While participating in sports in hot and humid or cold and wet conditions he can suffer a variety of accidents and injuries. It may ire due to overheating or overcooling. Extreme heat may cause dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Practice should be held early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid any complicated situation. 

(e) Avoid playing when tired: Limit your workout and practice to maximum two hours. Athletes must be aware of onset of fatigue as it dulls the senses, muscles and points and chances of injury are more. Therefore, adequate rest between sessions is necessary to prevent an injury. 

(f) Obey the rules and regulations: We must know and understand the rules ,four game or sport. Rules must be followed strictly to avoid accidents and if any participant breaks the rule he should be punished. Coach is responsible for making the athlete aware of all the rules and regulations of games and sports. 

(g) Warm-up and limbering down: Warm-up allows the body to adapt gradually to the oncoming activity. Proper warm-up is essential to prevent muscle pull, stress, aches, pain before you involve yourself in major games and sports. Likewise limbering down is also important to prevent soreness, muscle cramps, body pain as it relaxes our muscles after vigrous workout. 

(h) Proper clothing and footwear: At the time of training and competition the athletes must be in proper clothing as per the requirement of the games sport. The correct footwear is critical to sports. A pair of tennis sneakers is not appropriate for the vertical forces in running, therefore footwear must be worn according to game/sport you are involved in. Always prefer light shoes. 

(i) Previous injury: An athlete's return to premature practice after injury increases the risk of re-injury. One must r.rot engage in physical exertion until there is optimum healing, free from all pain, has regained normal strength and functional ability. So avoid premature return to activity to reduce further injury.

Sports medicine is a specialized area of science which deals with medical problems along with other inter-related specialities. It includes athletic injuries, rehabilitation, clinical medicine, nutrition, biomechanics, growth development, psycho-social aspect of sports. The above mentioned specialities are not possible without the clear concept of exercise physiology. Therefore, both are a must for a coach or player.