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OK. You were in the middle of a great workout, getting your sweat on and Bam! You feel something tweak in your foot. Sure, Mom has always told you to throw frozen peas on an injury and Dad said to toughen up and walk it off. But what should you really do if you are injured? Well, if the injury seems very serious, seek a medical expert right away. However, if the injury doesn’t seem like an emergency and you just need some sort of DIY treatment, RICE it! What is RICE? RICE is the recipe for healing minor injuries like sprains and strains.
Rest: Give that injured body part a break! Rest is one of the best ways to give an injury time to recover from the trauma and reduce inflammation and pain. Don’t push the affected area, and allow time for the injury to heal.
Ice: Turns out mom wasn’t wrong in telling you to put frozen veggies on a pained area. Ice will reduce inflammation and irritation, as well as reduce pain from the heat generated by the injury. While mom’s suggestion works, a bag of ice wrapped in a towel will also do the trick. Ice the area for about 20 minutes at a time, several times a day in order to reduce pain.
Compression: Compression helps to keep swelling down on the affected area. While an injury is bound to swell, compressing the area will keep the swelling down and allow blood to flow. Too much swelling can cause increased pain and considerable loss of function of the affected area. Proper compression can be achieved by wrapping the injury with an ACE bandage. Not too tight though! You don’t want to cut off circulation.
Elevation: Finally, positioning the injury above your heart allows for better blood flow and circulation. Elevate the affected area using a pillow or the arm of a couch.
Again, if you feel like your injury is more than something that will heal on it’s own at home quite quickly, head to a doctor. You don’t want to let something serious go untreated!
