SOFT TISSUE INJURIES: RICE? POLICE? PEACE? OR LOVE?
“Do I use heat or Ice?” would have to be one of the most common questions our patients ask in the clinic.
Most people are familiar with all the beautiful acronyms they teach you during a first aid course yet, patients can be a little embarrassed to ask this important question. If you keep it simple early, gain the right advice and apply the correct management this can be the difference between an easy and difficult recovery.
Most people can rattle off RICE –
REST
ICE
COMPRESSION
ELEVATION
In recent times there is less emphasis on the REST phase, with practitioners encouraging their patients to be active in their rehabilitation to ensure they achieve the best long term outcomes.
Examples of this include the commencement of early weightbearing and activation/range of motion exercises post heavy ankle sprain or hamstring tear.
Now this is where POLICE comes in –
PROTECTION
OPTIMAL
LOADING
ICE
COMPRESSION
ELEVATION
Protection involves unloading the soft tissue, allowing the joint or muscle to work within its ‘happy’, mostly pain-free range. This is to avoid creating further damage to the tissue whilst avoiding complete immobilization.
Optimal loading through weightbearing and exercise stimulates the healing process. During this time the body utilises this load to kick start our natural inflammatory process and early phases of healing.
This is why it is important to apply these principles early on, to manage the body's natural processes, without abolishing this system completely.
Let me introduce you to PEACE –
PROTECT
ELEVATE
AVOID ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES
COMPRESSION
EDUCATE
This is the first 48 hours post injury, which can be crucial to get right.
By making early contact with a health care professional you are making our job and your job easy. With the goal of returning the patient to work and sport as quickly as possible.
There is nothing better than empowering our patients to take control of their injury, allowing them to go away independently and tick off all their rehabilitation goals.
But we also can’t forget to avoid HARM -
HEAT
ALCOHOL
RUNNING
MASSAGE
Look, I know its super tempting to sink a thousand beers after going down 2-1 in your soccer grand final or getting your sports trainer to quickly rub out that hammy ping you felt when sprinting down the side line.
Most patients are great at applying the things they need to do early. However, they can struggle with avoiding the certain practices that inhibit natural healing.
Then, once we are out of the acute, nasty, painful phase we get involved with some self LOVE -
Load
Optimism
Vascularization
Exercise
This is why 99% of my patients walk out the door with exercises.
Your recovery is a team effort, the work we lay down in the clinic needs to be carried forward at home with an exercise program.
As well as all the little pearls of advice we can give to make your rehabilitation as comfortable, safe and speedy as possible.