Use a mouth guard to protect your teeth if you are playing a contact sport. Helmets can prevent head injuries and skull fractures. Using a helmet while off-roading with a mountain bike is as important as when you are riding on the street. If you roller skate, use knee pads, wrist guards, and elbow pads as well as a helmet for protection. Professional race care drivers understand the benefits of proper safety belt use.
Seat belts reduce injuries as well as the degree of injury if an accident occurs.
Use common sense - Don't hike five miles into a canyon, if you can't walk five miles uphill to get out again. Don't try to swim the Potomac River unless you have the technique, experience, endurance to do such an activity. However, some injuries can be more serious. Ice - Ice is the universal treatment for inflammation or swelling. Applying ice to an injured area decreases blood flow, reduces swelling relaxes muscle spasm, and has a pain relieving effect.