Stop Using R.I.C.E with New Injury

We all heard about RICE following injury.  What does RICE stand for? Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. 

R.I.C.E was coined by Dr. Mirkin in 1978, but in 2013, he withdrew this statement!  Subsequent research indicates that ice can delay recovery.  Ice is often use to decrease pain, inflammation, and swelling. Inflammation is not a bad thing however.  Normal tissue healing consist of three steps: 1) Inflammation, 2) repair, 3) remodeling.  In order for your body to heal, inflammation has to occur!  Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) such as Aspirin, Aleve, Ibuprofen can also hinder tissue healing.

Instead of RICE, here’s a new acronym to help with tissue healing following injury.  PEACE & LOVE.

Protect
Elevate
Avoid NSAID & Ice
Compression
Education

Load
Optimism
Vascularization
Exercise

Let’s break down each of those.

Protect: We want to protect the injury.  That is why we feel pain.  Pain is a way for the body to tell us to stop doing the movement that hurts so we don’t cause further damage.  We sometime don’t like the feeling of pain, so we take medications for example Tylenol.  But it might not be a bad thing for the body to experience pain to restrict what we may do at the beginning.

Elevate: Elevation will help improve blood flow & remove damage cells out of the area.

Avoid NSAID & Ice: As mentioned previously, NSAID are taken for inflammation, but the first step of tissue repair is inflammation.  Inflammation allows the body to realize, “hey something needs repairing here, send some help.”  White blood cells & macrophages are being released to the area to help eat any bacteria during open wounds & remove damage tissue.  Insulin-like growth factor are also being released to start the next phase of healing which is repair and remodeling. Ice also decrease circulation to the area which can hinder the process. Not only that, but research has also shown that ice can decrease muscle strength and size!

Compression: this is being used to improve circulation and move the fluid out of the injured area.

Education: Learning why injury happened and what YOU can do to help the body recover to return to your activity.  That is a powerful tool to help with recovery.

Load

Old school mentality is to sit there, do nothing after an injury, and wait for it to heal on itself.  As you wait, you are losing strength and range of motion.  Even if the pain subsides, as soon as you return, your chance of reinjury is higher.  Have you ever waited for an injury to heal, but as soon as you return to your activity, you reinjure it?  Wait again for the pain to go away, try again, and injure it again?  We want to move it and keep strengthening it to our body tolerance.

Optimism: Being optimistic that you will recover from the injury.  Knowing why it happened, and the steps you need to take to return to your activity will help a lot!

Vascularization: This is the formation of more blood vessels to the area! We want to promote blood flow to help bring the stuff we need to heal to the area, and then remove the damage tissue.

Exercise

This is pretty self explanatory.  Move! Modify as much as you need but don’t stop!

In summary, the goal is to protect the injury while providing adequate stimuli for it to heal via exercises and movements.  Movement will also help decrease swelling in the injured area, and clearance of waste.

Are you or a love one experiencing pain that you can't shake off? We would like to hear your story and help you return to the activities you love doing!  Just book a consultation with us!