One of the most common questions that I get in my clinic is about what to do when you hurt yourself. If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, like I did, you were probably told to follow the R.I.C.E. protocol. This stands for Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate.
Well, this has changed.
You should no longer follow the R.I.C.E. protocol.
You should keep moving.
Read more to find out how you should deal with injuries.
Immediately After an Injury
If you hurt yourself, it is important to make sure there is no major damage. If you can still walk, you may want to take it easy for up to 24 hours. If you have constant pain that is 9-10 out of 10, then go to urgent care or the emergency room.
If your pain calms down without any medication within a few hours, chances are you didn't do major damage. However it is best to consult with your preferred medical provider just in case.
Check to see if you can move the body part you injured. If you hurt your ankle, try to make letters with it (pretend you have a pen in between your toes and write the alphabet). It may hurt if you do full range of motion. If that is the case, make smaller movements. You don't want to aggravate the injured area.
Again, if you cannot take care of yourself, go to urgent care or the emergency room.
Try to avoid any pain medication, ice, or anti-inflammatory medications for at least 24 hours.
This will let your body start the healing process.
Your Body Is a Natural Healer
Your body is amazing. It can heal itself. You just have to let it happen.
Your body sends chemicals and blood to the injured area to clean it up and begin the healing process. Pain is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong. If you take pain killers you will not recognize that something is wrong (thus waiting 24 hours).
Also, with all the fluids and chemicals flooding to your injury site to help you heal, ice and anti-inflammatory medication will slow this down. You just have to let the body do its job before you mess with it.
The New Guidelines
The new research has found that you need to keep moving your injured body part within pain free limits. This means don't rest, but also don't add to the injury. So move your injured body part for 2-5 minutes 5-10 times per day.
Again this should not be painful. If it is, connect with your medical provider.
In the R.I.C.E. protocol, rest and ice are the first 2. Both of those will hinder the healing process. Elevation (the last one) may decrease the amount of healing by limiting swelling and inflammation. Compression will also limit the amount of healing materials allowed into your injured area.
Gentle movement along with gradual increases in your activity will help your body heal itself and guide you on the way to recover.
The next step is to slowly incorporate the injured tissues. If it is a muscle injury, you want to start adding gentle resistance to the muscles with bands or body weight exercises. You can progress from there.
When your injury is to your joints (ligaments) then you want to focus on the stability of the joint. Each joint stabilizes differently, but balance is a good stability exercise for feet, ankles, knees, hips, and your low back!
In the knew injury recovery protocol, you should "use it, or lose it."
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