One of the hottest questions I get all the time is,
"Is it a sprain, is it a strain, or is it a fracture?"
And I can tell you there's a few ways
to decide one way or the other.
A sprain or a strain is not a fracture.
It is a torn ligament or a tendon.
A strain has to do with a tendon,
and a sprain has to do with a ligament.
Ligaments hold bones together,
while tendons hold muscle to bone, that's the difference.
And it's not the muscle fiber,
but it's the actual tissue that connects that,
whatever it is, that muscle to the bone,
or the bone to the bone.
Either way, it doesn't heal easily,
it does stretch out, and it does tear.
It can bleed, which can cause bruising.
So if you've ever seen a sprained ankle
that has bruising, no fractures involved,
the reason it bled was because
there was a tear in the soft tissue.
Now, the problem with strains and sprains is,
that because they don't get a lot of vascular circulation,
they don't heal very quickly.
In fact, most sprains and strains, if they're severe,
can take longer to heal than an actual fracture of a bone.
But the way to find out if it's a sprain or a strain,
or whether it's a fracture of a bone that might need a cast,
is, does it hurt upon movement?
Number one.
Yes, it does.
Could still be a strain, or a sprain, or a fracture.
So that's not the only question to ask.
Number two: can you actually pinpoint
on the injury sight, where it hurts?
You're moving you're hand along the point
and the child winces when you get to a certain point.
Again, not for sure a fracture versus a sprain or strain,
but most likely a fracture.
Now keep in mind, there's several types of fractures.
There's hairline fracture, there's a complete fracture,
and then there is a compound fracture.
And the difference between a complete fracture,
which means the crack went all the way through the bone,
versus a compound fracture is that a compound fracture
actually separated and broke through the skin.
A closed complete fracture or a closed fracture
that has dislocated, is not compound,
it just is dislocated and may need to have surgery,
even though it hasn't broken through the skin.
The complication of a fracture that has
broken through the skin is that we have the
potential for a lot of infection.
Any way you slice it, a broken bone
is a visit to the hospital.
If it's a compound fracture, or an angulated fracture,
that is a 911 call.
If there's deformity at all, loss of sensitivity,
then you're going to call 911.
Because we don't want to aggravate that injury
any more than we have to on the way to the hospital.
There's also pain medications that
the paramedics might be able to give
that'll help comfort the child,
and paramedics and EMS professionals are well-trained
on how to stabilize unstable fractures
while getting them to the hospital safely.
Some of the other things that you might deal with
are not quite so life-threatening,
but are just as important.
And that's why we're including a helpful
symptom book that will help you
to be able to go through based on
what the signs and symptoms are of what you're questioning,
and then some treatments and decision trees
about whether you should call the ambulance,
go to the hospital, or treat it at home.
We hope this has been helpful.
Go ahead, have fun, enjoy your children.
But we hope that this video gives you the empowerment
needed to know when to call for help,
or when to treat it at home,
and to know what to do in case an accident happens.