Do you have an acute injury? Rule #1 Do no HARM.
If you have an acute injury it's often already sore enough - so you don't want to do anything that will make it even worse.
We want you to have a speedy recovery!
We've all heard of RICE which has now been superseded by POLICE for what we should do in the initial management of an acute injury.
Protect
Optimally
Load
Ice
Compress
Elevate
Do no HARM is an acronym of what we want to avoid in the first 72 hours of an injury
Heat
Alcohol
Running or Re-injury
Massage
Heat is thought to increase blood flow which means it can increase bleeding and swelling associated with an acute injury
As tempting as it is to reach for a glass of wine or beer to drown your sorrows, alcohol will slow the healing process and can increase bleeding into the injured area.
Running or Re-injury. It may seem obvious but you'd be surprised by the number of runners and athletes I have to remind that continuing to run can risk further tissue damage. We want to avoid aggravating the injury and also prevent a re-injury!
Massage directly over the area of injury is not only painful but can lead to further tissue damage, so best to avoid it in the first 3 days after injury. Sometimes massage distal (further down the leg) to the injury can help reduce swelling and improve function
We want you to have a speedy recovery!
We've all heard of RICE which has now been superseded by POLICE for what we should do in the initial management of an acute injury.
Protect
Optimally
Load
Ice
Compress
Elevate
Do no HARM is an acronym of what we want to avoid in the first 72 hours of an injury
Heat
Alcohol
Running or Re-injury
Massage
Heat is thought to increase blood flow which means it can increase bleeding and swelling associated with an acute injury
As tempting as it is to reach for a glass of wine or beer to drown your sorrows, alcohol will slow the healing process and can increase bleeding into the injured area.
Running or Re-injury. It may seem obvious but you'd be surprised by the number of runners and athletes I have to remind that continuing to run can risk further tissue damage. We want to avoid aggravating the injury and also prevent a re-injury!
Massage directly over the area of injury is not only painful but can lead to further tissue damage, so best to avoid it in the first 3 days after injury. Sometimes massage distal (further down the leg) to the injury can help reduce swelling and improve function
