RICE? Or, PEACE and LOVE?
What do we do when it comes to post-injury pain and swelling?
When you injure your body, knowledge of what to do to help the healing process is the first line of defense and gets you on the road to recovery.
Let’s start with talking about RICE. It has become more of an outdated approach to treatment in the time just after an injury. But, what is it?
Rest- after an injury, allow the injured body part to rest
Ice- apply a cold pack or bag of ice on the area that is injured while protecting the skin and if you don’t have issues with cold, such as cold agglutinin or Raynaud’s phenomena
Compression- apply an Ace wrap, compression socks, or compression sleeve to keep the swelling down
Elevation-bring the limb that is injured higher than the level of the heart
That used to be the standard after an injury. If you sprained your ankle, you were told to rest it, stay off of it. Put ice on it. Wrap it with an Ace wrap and get the foot elevated higher than your heart. The theory was that by reducing swelling, this would alleviate stiffness and pain. The thought was that swelling caused all of the problems, so if you could get rid of swelling, then everything would be okay.
The problem is that with resting and elevating the limb, the immobility of that can cause other issues such as muscle atrophy/weakness, stiffness of the injured area, loss of function, and pain.
We are meant to move. We aren’t designed to stay still. Our bodies perform all functions better when we move and stay active.
And, now, there has been research that shows that some swelling is needed in the healing process.
So, now what do we do?
A few years ago, the theory of how to treat acute injuries changed. A newer theory is PEACE and LOVE. That sounds great, but what does it mean?
Protection-avoid activities that cause pain after the initial injury
Elevation-bring the injured limb higher than the heart
Avoid anti-inflammatories-over-the-counter NSAID’s have been shown to delay tissue healing
Compression-provide compression with taping, Ace wrap, or compression sleeve
Education-listen to your body about what it can do and what it can handle based on pain, stability and your own tolerance
Load-let pain be your guide, but gently putting some weight through the limb or gradually using weights to increase the forces through the joints/muscles/tendons is helpful in recovery
Optimism-stay positive during healing while understanding the healing is a process and you may have setbacks along the way. A positive outlook can give you hope that things will get better.
Vascularization-choose cardio activity that is non-painful to increase blood flow to the injured area
Exercise-restore strength and mobility. If you aren’t sure what to do, seek out a physical therapist to help with this.
Overall, early motion, weight bearing and activity after an injury can reduce complications after an injury. Complications can include prolonged immobilization, continued swelling, continued pain and loss of activity. Periods of immobilization can delay healing and cause drastic changes in strength. According to the American Diabetes Association, people can lose 2.5% of lean tissue mass with just 7 days of bed rest.
My advice is to ditch the RICE, and remember PEACE and LOVE after an injury. My goal with this newsletter is to give you knowledge so that you have the power to heal yourself. This information is not meant to be a substitute for medical intervention, so please, if you have had a serious injury, seek medical attention.
Take good care,
Sharon