Doctor CKI Nguyen Quoc Huy, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, said that if you have a bruised limb or sprain, you should do 4 things: Rest, apply cold compresses, wrap a compression bandage, and elevate the injured area, also known as RICE (the first letters of 4 English words):

Rest

According to Dr. Nguyen Quoc Huy, when injured, we need to limit movement to reduce pain, using crutches, canes, or common cloth splints can be useful for some cases of minor injuries. For cases after injury where normal movements are limited, it is best to let the injured area rest completely by using a fixed splint (anything long and strong can be used to splint) across the 2 joints.

Note that you should not try to manipulate, bend, or adjust the painful area to try to return it to a normal position or try to repeat normal movements even though it is difficult, these efforts will cause you pain and make the injury worse.

Ice

To reduce pain and swelling, you can buy pain-relieving sprays at pharmacies and quick-drying cold packs at supermarkets, or you can use ice in a plastic bag, then wrap it in a towel and apply it to avoid frostbite. In the first 24 hours, you should apply ice about 3 times, each time about 20-30 minutes. In particular, do not apply hot oil or use heat in the first 24 hours because it can cause more swelling and bruising.

Compression

You should use elastic bandages, wrap gently and evenly to help reduce swelling in the injured area and help it recover quickly. Note that you should not bandage too tightly as it will affect the circulation behind the bandage. You can ask medical staff to guide you on how to bandage and monitor. For example, you need to check the tips of your toes to see if they are purple or numb. If so, you need to loosen the elastic bandage.

Elevation

Elevate the injured limb above the heart to increase venous blood flow to the circulatory system, reducing swelling.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Huy noted that some serious injuries, such as not being able to stand up after falling, having severe pain in the back or neck area, not being able to turn the neck, or you may lose sensation and movement due to a spinal cord injury.

At this point, you need to call 115 for immediate medical assistance, because any attempt to turn can aggravate the damage to the cervical or lumbar spinal cord and can lead to actual paralysis. What can be done is to help the victim stay calm, absolutely avoid turning, use available items on the spot to relatively immobilize the neck area (with many newspapers or many rolled up cardboard sheets) or the back area (with bamboo splints, rain umbrellas...).