RICE may be on its way out
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Treating sprains and strains.
A few years back, spectators at an intramural indoor soccer game at the University of California at Davis might have seen Keith Baar, a professor of physiology and membrane biology at the university, practicing state-of-the-art soft-tissue injury care.
Having turned his ankle moments before, he was plopped down on the sidelines, his injured leg extended, gently tracing the alphabet in midair with his foot.
He repeated that routine multiple times at home that evening and the following day.
Two days after the injury, he was running again. “It’s the fastest I’ve ever recovered” from an ankle sprain, he said.
For decades, at-home treatments for common, non-traumatic sports or similar injuries, such as sprains, strains, tendinopathies and slight tissue tears, centered on a protocol known by the acronym RICE, which stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Many people supplement that regimen with ibuprofen, such as Advil, or similar anti-inflammatory painkillers. (See a doctor if you have any concerns about a possible fracture, bleeding or other serious conditions.)
But there’s growing evidence from Baar’s lab and others’ that the full RICE approach may, in fact, impede recovery, not speed it.
Instead, newer research about the microscopic environment inside sore, injured joints and tissues suggests moving and exercising in the right ways is key to recovery. Some of the researchers have even coined a new acronym for how best to treat these injuries. It’s all about, they say, PEACE and LOVE.
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