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- In this condition, the body is wounded by something other than disease.
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- Pain
- Black-and-blue marks, shredded skin, puncture wounds in the skin
- Surrounding redness
- Loss of function
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- Objects (such as blunt objects, sharp objects, gunshot wounds, animal bites, human bites, insect stings, scorpion stings, rose thorns)
- Physical means: heat, cold, radiation (X-rays), nuclear energy
- Chemical means: acid burns, lye burns
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- History is the most important deciding factor.
- If the injured person has no memory of an injury, it is sometimes difficult to be certain whether the condition is injury or disease. If an infant or small child has tiny black-and-blue marks, each the size of a pinhead, these could be due to a bleeding tendency, or an infection, or injury.
- At times, physical examination or x-rays prove that there was an injury (for example, in gunshot wounds).
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- Sports
- Earthquakes and situations that are inherently dangerous
- Certain occupations (chemist)
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- Local measures are used for very small injuries (cleansing and then applying a dressing for protection against further injury and infection). Examples of small injuries are abrasions (scratched skin), very small ecchymoses (black-and-blue marks), very small avulsions (a very small piece of skin or nail is torn off, such as a hangnail)
- A physician, or in some instances, a nurse, should treat more serious injuries or larger injuries (most puncture wounds, wounds over a larger surface area or wounds that might be deep).
- It is very important that injuries be treated right away, to avoid complications.
- Many cities have Trauma centers or paramedics to care for injuries immediately. In the case of major injuries, treatment within the first hour is critical to avoid shock.
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- Shock: (1) sudden, severe impairment of the body's ability to bring oxygen and nutrition to the tissues; and (2) sudden, severe impairment of the body's ability to remove waste products from the tissues.
- Infection
- Temporary or permanent damage to organs
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- When and if your child has been hurt by an object or physical or chemical force, seek medical care immediately if there is a possibility that more than first aid is needed.
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- The line can be blurred between an injury and a disease. For example, after excessive radiation or an exposure to nuclear energy, the patient usually has a burn first (a physical injury) but then develops illness such as radiation sickness (nausea, vomiting, hair falling out).
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