What should you REALLY do if you strain a muscle? Everyone has heard of RICE, or Rest Ice Compress Elevate but what does that actually mean? 1. Rest: if you feel a pull or pain or tear when exercising, you should stop, ie REST 2. Ice: Ice should be applied as fast as possible to cut down on the amount of inflammation and therefore the area of injury. There is no point in applying ice several hours after an injury, it needs to be quick, and is probably only effective for 2 to 3 hours post-injury. 3. Compress: This works a bit like ice. By constricting the area of injury with an elastic or cohesive bandage, you cut back on the trauma and inflammation. 4. Elevate: This is not always possible, depending on the area of the body injured but one of the first inflammatory responses to injury is swelling; ie oedema, ie fluid rushing to the area. By draining this fluid away from the injury site in the initial stages, you again help to reduce the size of the injury.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 13:51:09 +0000
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