What to Do When You Hurt Your Knee

What to Do When You Hurt Your Knee

There is no doubt if you have ever bumped your knee on a table or fallen on ice you understand the pain, stiffness and swelling […]

What to Do When You Hurt Your Knee

What to Do When You Hurt Your KneeThere is no doubt if you have ever bumped your knee on a table or fallen on ice you understand the pain, stiffness and swelling that comes with this mishap. However, if you react quickly you may prevent lots of swelling and additional pain in the near future. If you should injure your knee you’ll first need to see a knee injury specialist. A specialist might also recommend the plans of action or you can do this on your own. You’ll need to immediately take pressure off your knee. Next, place an ice pack on your knee to prevent swelling. Last, it is important to take something for pain.
It is best to see a Knee Injury Specialist if you injure your knee. Why, you may ask. First, your knee is essential to you getting around. Also, sometimes when we think we’ve just lightly bumped our knee we may have actually tore a ligament or caused water to collect on and around the knee. This allows a greater deterioration to occur in the knee. A specialist may recommend treatments ranging from topical treatments to surgery. A professional diagnosis is important to recovery for a knee injury.
Elevating the knee is essential to the wellbeing of the knee. This takes unnecessary strain off the knee. It will prevent you from further injuring your knee. While your knee is resting it is also suggested that you rest. Letting your entire body relax will help accelerate the healing process.
Many times when you’ve hurt your knee it is suggested that you place an ice pack gently on your knee. This helps to prevent further swelling while also preventing additional pain.
Lastly, many specialists encourage patients to take an anti-inflammatory tablet, just one or two to combat the pain associated with injuring your knee. There are many over the counter medications at your area convenience store or supermarket. As long as you are taking something that will decrease the swelling/inflammation and pain you are on your way to reducing the effects of your injured knee.
No matter how you injure your knee there are ways to alleviate symptoms. Don’t ignore symptoms such as stiffness, tenderness or pain for a prolonged period of time. Treat your knee using all of the suggestions above appropriately. A specialist will in the long term greatly benefit you because they can take X-rays and see a small or large tear or water on the knee. The knee is such an important part of the body, don’t leave it to chance or guess work. See a specialist when you hurt your knee and try the other suggestions.

What Are Aortic Aneurysms?

aortic_aneurysmAn aneurysm is a weakening or thinning of the wall of an artery, causing it to balloon out, and perhaps causing it to burst, letting blood leak out of the artery. If a burst aneurysm occurs in a small artery, the leak may be slow enough that you have time to get medical care, but if it happens in a large artery such as the aorta, blood gushes out of the artery so fast that you probably won’t have time to seek medical help before you lose so much blood volume that death would result within minutes. Let’s look at the problem in more detail.

Your circulatory system is a closed loop with the heart as the pump that pumps blood into blood vessels called arteries. The arteries take the blood to the tissues where the blood flows through smaller vessels called capillaries, and finally flows into blood vessels called veins which carry the blood back to the heart. The blood flowing through the arteries is at high pressure and this puts pressure on the artery wall, possibly causing the artery wall to burst if it is weakened by an aneurysm. The aorta is the largest artery in the body and is also the first major artery to leave the heart. The aorta descends through the chest and the abdomen, sending smaller branches to all of your organs.

Most aneurysms occurs in the aorta or one of the large branches off of the aorta. When an aortic aneurysm bursts, the blood leaks out of the artery into the surrounding tissue and this can decrease the volume of blood in the circulatory system rapidly causing the blood pressure to drop, which may lead to fainting and death if not treated immediately.

Aneurysms need to be repaired surgically, and hopefully they will be found before they burst. This is particularly important with aneurysms of the aorta, so that aortic aneurysm surgery can be done before the aneurysm bursts. Aneurysms can be visualized by ultrasound examination of the chest and abdomen. You will often see advertisements in the newspapers for mobile vans that carry ultrasound equipment and offer various packages of scans for a relatively low cost. It is not a bad idea to be proactive and sign up for an appointment to determine the health of your arteries before a burst aortic aneurysm can occur. An even better option is to request that your physician order an ultrasound of your chest and abdomen at the radiology center of his or her choice. If an aortic aneurysm is found, your physician can schedule aortic aneurysm surgery as soon as possible to repair the defect.