With every passing day, the craze for paintball is getting heightened. Paintball is setting new trends of obsession among all age groups. It is one of the most demanded survival games. There’s no proficiency level needed to play this battlefield game. Amateurs can also participate in paintball battles with some basic know-how.
However, everything has its price. You can end up with some direct hits while playing. First, you feel a stingy sensation. Soon you find something new and painful on your skin. Yes, you guess right! You got some Paintball Bruises and Welts. But don’t worry at all. It is as treatable as a pimple is. In this guide, you will get all information about paintball injuries, their identification, causes, and treatments.
Though paintball is a low-risk game your luck can ditch you sometimes. A violent blow to the skin impacts really deeper and results in bad paintball bruises. Paintball marks are not a concern able till it has no pain. Usually, they fade away in a week or two on their own. Every so often it needs care and medication as well. sometimes, paintball bruises don’t hurt at all, but they look bad on the skin.
To treat your paintball bruises and welts, you at least have good know-how about them. From identification, and handling to when you should rush to the doctor. The most common hurdle in treating these injuries is to identify which one is which. Let’s get thorough info about spotting the difference between paintball bruises and paintball welts.
Difference Between Bruises and Welt
The difference between Bruises and welts are as different as chalk n cheese. These injuries are caused by a hard hit on the skin. In paintball, the chances of getting hurt are higher than in usual sports. Paintball bruises and paintball welts are often mystified. There’s no rocket science needed to spot their difference and identify them. You can spot them at a glance after reading few more lines.
To comprehend clearly, you should scrutinize the paintball bruises and paintball welts on some parameters majorly on their appearance; how they look like, age; how long they persist, and level of pain. Let’s go through all the crucial factors to distinguish between them.
How Paintball Bruises and Welts Look Like
Paintball bruises and paintball welts are way too different in looks. Welts are raised marks on the skin usually with no discoloration. Most of the time, welts have no broken skin. The bump has slight redness. Pain is the main complain that comes with this type of injury. Several victims of paintball welts reported mild to moderate pain. Bruises are a patch of discolored skin with no swelling. The hit on the skin damages the local capillaries and results in bleeding underneath the skin layer.
Now come to its color, shape, and pattern. A study conducted by pediatrics in England revealed that the nature of bruising is not consistent in different subjects (individuals). You find paintball bruises variety of coloration from bright red to purplish-blue to pale yellow when it is about to disappear.
The size and pattern of paintball bruises are subjected to the intensity of impact. The harder the paintball pallet hits you the darker and deeper the bruise is. Sometimes, you get more than one hit at a same area. It leads to bigger bruises.
Last but not least bruises have a different attitude towards gender. Female paintball bruises are darker and last longer than men. It is a general observation; women get more bruises than men in real-life situations too. But when playing a violent game like paintball, girls need to be more careful.
Life Span of Paintball Bruises vs Welts
You will be surprised to know that a swelled paintball welt disappears faster than a paintball bruise. It takes only 3 to 4 days to completely flatten the welts. On the other hand, bruises take around a week or two to heal completely.
Bruises are formed when the microscopic blood vessels ruptured below the skin. The blood clot reflects more when it’s a fresh hit. Bright red oxygenated blood accumulated underneath. After a day or two, it turns blue or black. By the time, it fades out from darker to lighter. Ta-Da! It’s gone! But the whole process of curation takes good two weeks.
Pain Threshold of Bruises and Welts
Even so, every individual’s body reacts in a different manner, we can say that welts are more painful than bruises. Due to swelling, the tissues and skin have tension, which results in constant pain. The paintball welts are equally painful as other welts, whereas, bruises have no pain generally. Bruises are tender to touch; you can feel mild to moderate pain while pressing the affected area. The good news is, that is not as painful, as it seems. It can be treated easily at home.
Reasons of Paintball Bruise and Prevention
Being a young player of paintball, you can imagine the thrill and adventurous tension on the battlefield. The topmost priority is to survive by hook or crook. Who cares about the injuries there? You catch your breath and lots of bruises at the end of the combat. However, you should take some beforehand precautions to avoid bruises.
To refrain from future bad paintball bruises, you should know why you can get bruised. Along with the necessary course of action. We are marking down the core reasons for bruising and the ways to avoid them.
Distance And Power of the Paintball Gunshot
The aggressive game of paintball revolves around some passionate players and paintball guns. It’s combat between players of the opposing team. Aim and strike the paintball at the target player. It starts with thrill and excitement and winds up with bad paintball bruises.
What makes a normal hit to the body into bruises? The power of the gunshot and the distance where it shot from. If you accidentally bumped into an opponent, he must shoot you a close shot. A nearer shot is more powerful and damages you more.
To protect yourself and others from such a painful shot, try to keep your distance and use a moderated powerful gun. Take cover while invading others’ space. Hope this battle will end up in fewer paintball wounds.
Some Body Parts Are Sensitive
Your fragile body parts are in danger when playing such a violent surviving game. Eyes are always vulnerable in this sport. Therefore, many youngsters get ocular injuries during the fight. Similarly, the face and neck have a thin epidermal. It easily gets bruised if come in contact with the paintball. If the paintball hits and bounces back it will be worse. It hurts you and gives you bruises.
Always avoid exposing your face, neck, and Sensitive parts of the body during a round by wearing top quality paintball masks. Get some good layers of clothing to cover yourself from head to toe. Before starting a league, define some norms not to hit sensitive parts of any player. Safety comes first.
Playing Without Protective Gear
There’s no doubt paintball is an expensive game. If you try to buy all accessories and gadgets at once, it will cost you an arm and a leg. Even so, you cannot rule out the safety measures, you should take.
Protective gear not only shields you but also gives you a fighter’s avatar. It is crucial to wear a helmet to safeguard against head injuries, and goggles to burst paint into your eyes. Further, gloves, a padded vest, and extra paddings for thighs are also recommended. You can smartly avoid getting bad paintball bruises by wear protective clothings.
How to Treat Paintball Bruises and Welts
Though it may seem strange, after taking all protective measures, you get paintball bruises and welts. Now it’s time to get trained about the treatment. When you got an encounter, you just feel a sting-type sensation. After some hours, bruises start to appear. In the beginning, paintball bruises are red. Don’t panic! You can treat it at home with your med kit.
Disinfect
First thing first, wash your wound and its surrounding with clean water. Paint and dirt can cause an infection that increases inflammation. It is a necessary step to avoid bacterial infections. Usually, bruises have no ruptured skin but for the sake of precaution, take an alcohol swab and wipe the bruises. It is a bit painful to rub the paintball welts or bruises. But subside any doubt of infection.
Cleaning the wound makes the picture clear for you. Now you can see how big the bruise is and how severe it is. Allow the bruise to dry naturally. Try to keep it open. It doesn’t need a band-aid. It is not a one-time action to perform. Keep your wound clean. Wash it regularly and disinfect it now and then.
Cold or Hot Application
A new paintball bruise is quite sensitive to touch. Applying a hot pack is not recommended in the early days. Make sure to sure a cold compress for soothing the injury. For the moment it reduces the intensity of pain.
You can use a gel-filled cold compress or you can toss some ice cubes in a Ziplock to prepare a make-shift compress at home. Both will give you the same pacifying result.
After a day or two, try the hot pack application to the bruises. It will help the constricted blood to diffuse quickly. For hot applications, we recommend you to use heating pads available over the counter. It is a one-time investment as you are an enthusiastic paintball player. You need to compile a paintball injury kit.
Local Application
To faster the process of healing, it is recommended to apply locally some remedies. In the first place, vitamin K creams are good to cure wounds. Get a high-quality cream from any drug store. Apply it at least twice daily.
You can opt for herbal ointment as well. Arnica is well known for the treatment of sports injuries. Many famous sports players keep it in their first aid kit. Witch hazel solution is known best to soothe the irritation caused by inflamed skin. Apply gently with the help of a cotton ball and let it dry.
Medication
Besides all the above, if you want to reduce the pain factor in this healing process, go for over-the-counter painkillers. Initially, NSAIDs are the recommended over-the-counter drugs to subside the pain. For example, ibuprofen. You can opt for Tylenol as well. It reduces the pain and discomfort caused by bruises. Many of the players avoid using medications and suggest letting the wound heal naturally. At the end of the day, paintball bruises or welts go away on their own regardless of what curation plan you were following.
Good Rest Is Key to Heal Fast
Our body’s natural healing system always stays alert to repair and maintain the damages. Healthy food and rest boost the process of healing. You will be fine in no time. So, take some days off and relax on your bed. It’s time to binge-watch your favorite series with a bowl full of popcorn.
When To Show Concern
It is not wrong if you categorized paintball sports as violent sports. Sometimes the injury is beyond bruises and welts. But all you can see is either a bruise or a welt.
Minor fractures and displacements have also swollen. Don’t mislead a serious injury with bruises. If you find difficulty in moving a particular part of the body or you deal with intolerable pain even after 3 days. Rush to your doctor. A doctor examines the wound manually and scans it with X-rays for fractured bones. Any type of serious injury needs to treat as soon as possible.
Protective Measures to Avoid Paintball Bruises and Welts
Being passionate is not the only feature required to win a Paintball game. You need to be careful to survive till the end without being injured. You must have well informed about safety measures to avoid paintball welts and bruises. Here are some precautionary ideas to follow;
- Get adequate knowledge of the paintball.
- Put on some extra layers of clothing
- Wear protective gear extravagantly
- Try to save your sensitive parts of the body
- Maintain a good distance to avoid a powerful shot
- Customize some rules and follow them strictly
We are sure you extract sufficient information from this guide to prevent paintball welts and bruises. Try to keep them in mind before jumping into the battlefield.
Paintball Bruises and Welts FAQs
Conclusion
By the end of this piece of writing, you became a Pro of paintball bruises and welts. Execute all you learned here in your paintball game. If you follow the tips and tricks given, there are very minimal chances to get hurt. Maintaining the correct distance to avoid the wild blows, protective layering, and playing smartly will save you from getting paintball bruises and welts.
However, by chance you ended up with some paintball wounds, you can easily spot the difference between paintball bruises and paintball welts. You know now the welts disappear faster than bruises. You discovered the first aid treatment of your paintball bruises and welts. Always keep an eye on your allergies. If you ever have allergies to witch hazel or arnica ointment. do not apply it without asking your doctor. Knowing your body and its needs is the smartest way to get heal faster. Scrutinize your pain tolerance. If it is more than normal, must visit your doctor.
Although, paintball bruises and welts are not life-threatening, always take all necessary precautionary measures and be vigilant in paintball sport. Now you are loaded with ample information about paintball injuries. It’s time to play fearlessly!