How to Manage Injuries Sustained in the Military

Injuries are a normal part of life, and we’ll all sustain some sort of injury as we go about our days. However, the military is at a distinct risk of injury, especially in combat or training conditions. Learning how to manage injuries is important for long-term health and rapid response to emergency situations. In this blog, we’ll talk about some of the most common injuries in the military, some treatment methods, and what you can do to prevent injuries during your service. 

What Injuries Are Common in the Military?

Service members can develop injuries at any point in their career, whether they’re training at home or fighting overseas. Some of the most common injuries include:

• Musculoskeletal: Being in the military is a physically demanding job, and injuries like sprains, stress fractures, back pain, knee pain, and shin splints are all too common. Overuse injuries tend to be the most common since service members are typically carrying heavy loads and running. Acute injuries can also occur from accidents during training or combat scenarios, such as sprains and fractures. 
• TBIs: Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can occur anytime the brain sustains a significant enough impact, which can happen in several ways in the military. Hard falls, blunt force trauma, explosions, and other scenarios can result in a TBI, which can have lasting effects on a person’s cognitive abilities. 
• Hearing loss: Service members can be exposed to loud noises that can have a damaging effect on their hearing, such as explosions and gunfire. While ear protection can help significantly, it doesn’t always do everything to block out the noise. Hearing loss and tinnitus can be lifelong problems long after our troops have finished their contracts. 
• Combat or training injuries: There are several kinds of injuries our service members can sustain during combat or training, such as shrapnel wounds, chest injuries, open wounds, and more. It’s important for service members to have the proper training to deal with these injuries as they occur to prevent them from worsening until professional medical treatment can be found. 

How to Care for Injuries

The way you care for an injury will depend on the type you have. Life-threatening injuries, where a service member may lose their life, will require professional medical intervention, but it’s not always possible to access immediately after the injury. That’s why it’s important for our troops to carry first-aid kits and have the appropriate skills to treat life-threatening injuries, including stopping or slowing bleeding and treating large open wounds.

If the injury isn’t life-threatening, you may not need to rely on a first-aid kit, except in cases of burns, sprains, breaks, or small wounds. 

For musculoskeletal injuries, which are one of the most common in the military, you’ll generally want to use the R.I.C.E. method to treat and heal from your injury, which works as follows:

• R: Rest is critical for healing these types of injuries, especially more severe sprains or breaks. You don’t want to start doing too much activity before your body is ready, or you could worsen your injury and end up with more problems than you started with. Make sure you’re getting enough rest during the healing process and not pushing yourself too hard. 
• I: Icing your injuries will help alleviate pain and reduce swelling, which is important in the healing process. When you ice your injuries, try to avoid putting the ice directly on your skin and aim for about 15 minutes each session, with several sessions every day. 
• C: Compression helps with swelling and keeps your injury set in the correct position while you’re healing, which is especially important with breaks. Try to keep your injury supported through compression for the majority of the time during the healing process until your provider says it’s okay to stop. 
• E: Elevation helps reduce swelling, which is important in the healing process. After you finish icing your injuries, you should try to elevate your injury for at least 30 minutes a few times a day, if not longer for more severe injuries. 

For other injuries, like TBIs and burns, it’s important to seek medical treatment as soon as you can. While it might not be a life-threatening situation, it can still cause some significant problems if you don’t try to receive treatment, especially when it comes to head injuries. Keep an eye on your injuries and symptoms, and seek treatment as soon as you can. If you start to experience some concerning symptoms, like fevers, a worsening headache, dizziness, or a loss of consciousness, you should seek medical treatment right away. 

Injury Prevention in the Military

It’s important to acknowledge that some injuries are unavoidable. Accidents happen, and it may happen to you one day. What’s important is knowing how to respond in those situations to limit the damage and start the healing process. However, there are some things you can do to prevent injuries and keep existing injuries from getting worse. Below are some tips for injury prevention while you’re in the military.

1. Stay Physically Fit

Taking care of your body and building strength can help prevent several types of injuries, including sprains and breaks. The stronger you are, the less likely you’ll experience these types of injuries from minor accidents. 

Make sure you’re exercising and doing it regularly. Strength and flexibility will be your friend while you’re training and carrying a lot of weight, since your muscles and joints have adequate support and you won’t have to worry about overuse as much. When you’re exercising, make sure you’re using the proper technique, warming up, and cooling down before each session. 

Part of staying fit also includes eating well and getting enough sleep each night. Sleep is especially important as it’s when we do most of our healing, which you’ll need after workouts, training exercises, and injuries if you sustain any.

2. Listen to Your Body

Your body will be the first thing to tell you if something is wrong. If you start to feel discomfort that’s not normal or sudden pain, it might be time to visit a medical professional. Your body will also tell you if you’re pushing yourself too hard, which is usually a sign to stop doing what you’re doing or to take it easy during workouts or training. If you keep going beyond what your body is capable of, you could risk injuring yourself and creating problems for yourself in the future.

3. Use the Proper Gear

Some injuries in the military can be prevented or lessened by wearing the proper gear during your operations. For example, hearing loss is a common injury sustained by service members, and for some, it becomes a chronic condition. However, wearing hearing protection when you’re exposed to loud noises can reduce the risk of developing this problem. 

You should also wear all your gear when you’re in the middle of a training exercise or mission. Helmets are especially important to prevent brain injuries like TBIs since they can occur frequently in the military. You can also use bags for your rucks or other operations that are designed with ergonomics in mind, so you don’t hurt yourself when carrying heavy loads. 

4. Get Some Rest

Recovery is important when you’re training or exercising since your body needs time to heal. Make sure you’re making time to rest in your day, even if it’s just for a short period before bed. The R.I.C.E. method is useful after workouts or intense training days, and stretching can help you limber up and aid in recovery. 

You should also try to sleep eight hours each night. While this isn’t always possible while you’re in the military due to a busy schedule and early PT requirements, you should still make an effort to get as much sleep as you can, even if it means retiring early each night. While it may be tempting to stay out and stay up all the time, it can be detrimental to your health, and you won’t be as alert as you need to be for your work. Sleeping will help you heal strained muscles and will put you in the right headspace for your operations, which can help prevent injuries when you’re aware of what’s going on around you.

5. Learn How to Care for Injuries

If you do get injured, knowing how to care for your injuries can prevent them from getting worse. For example, a simple sprain that usually heals in a few short weeks could turn into something more problematic, like a torn ligament, if you try to push yourself too hard or don’t have the right support while you’re healing. 

Learning the proper methods for caring for certain injuries can save you from the headache and pain of worse conditions. If you’re not sure how to care for a specific injury, consult with your doctor and heed their advice. You may also want to consider carrying around a stocked medical bag so you can respond quickly to minor injuries, so you can start the healing process right away, especially for things like burns, open wounds, sprains, or breaks. You should consult with a professional to receive the proper treatment for any and all injuries you sustain on the job.  

Find Gear and Medical Bags at MLC

Accidents happen, and you may get injured while you’re serving in the military. However, you can do what you can to prevent them and be prepared in case something were to happen while you’re at work or in the middle of an operation. Military Luggage Company has you covered with our selection of bags, where you can carry your gear and medical supplies for protection and rapid response to injuries. We personally vet our products to ensure they meet the strict standards of our troops, so you can trust they’ll hold up during your rigorous operations. Get started by browsing our selection, or contact us today with your questions.