Four Post-Injury Tips

As my clients have been getting a little more active with the coming of spring I’ve been getting calls and emails asking how best to deal with minor injuries.

Assuming you don’t feel you’ve broken a bone or sustained a major injury the rule of thumb can be summed up in the acronym R.I.C.E.

R- Rest

Often when we get hurt we hear the voice of an old coach yelling at us to just walk it off.

This trick might work if you’ve just bumped knee but if the pain is substantial and affecting your ability to move etc, trying to “walk it off” can and likely will cause greater injury.

If this is the case, it’s best to get someplace where you can rest, taking weight off of the joint.

I- Ice

Often when someone feels pain or stiffness the first thing they do is reach for heat.

Although both heat and ice are analgesics, immediately following an injury the body’s first response will be to produce an inflammatory response to help stabilize the area of injury. The inflammation can lead to more damage being done to the affected area so we want to do all we can to reduce the chance of inflammation.

Adding heat will cause the body to produce a great inflammatory response so ice is the way to go in order to help reduce the level of inflammation to the area. Remember when applying ice, you want to ice to lay on top of the affected area vs sitting or lying on the ice pack. If using a frozen gel pack, be sure to check the area to ensure frostbite doesn’t occur. Typically icing 20 minutes every hour is ideal.

C- Compression

In addition to using ice to reduce inflammation, compression can be used to keep the injured area from becoming overly inflamed.

E- Elevation

Elevation is the final way to help the body limit the inflammatory process.