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Sustained a Joint Injury? Why RICE Should Be Your First Step

Steven E. Nolan, MD Blog Sustained a Joint Injury? Why RICE Should Be Your First Step
Sustained a Joint Injury? Why RICE Should Be Your First Step

If you or a friend or family member has ever sustained a joint or soft tissue injury such as a sprained ankle, chances are you’ve heard the term RICE before.

RICE is a protocol of rest, ice, compression, and elevation designed to minimize pain and swelling and accelerate recovery.

Our Steven E. Nolan, MD, team starts with RICE when you experience a joint injury. Here’s why the method should be the first step in your treatment.

What is RICE?

The RICE treatment is first-aid for joint and soft tissue injuries such as sprains, strains, and bruises. It’s simple enough that you can begin the treatment on your own as soon as you’re injured and use it for up to 48 hours.

Here’s how Dr. Nolan recommends you should use RICE:

Rest

The first step is to protect your injured area from additional strain or pressure. Stop using the injured area immediately (don’t put any weight on your sprained ankle or use your injured wrist, for example). Rest the injury for up to 48 hours or until you can visit Dr. Nolan.

ICE

The next step is to apply ice or a cold pack to the injured body part, which will help keep swelling and pain to a minimum. Don’t put the ice cubes or cold pack directly on your skin — wrap them in a towel or cloth first. You can apply the ice for up to 20 minutes three times a day.

Compression

Wrapping your injury firmly with an elastic bandage can further reduce swelling. Be careful, though — if you wrap it too tightly, the bandage could cut off blood flow and increase swelling. If you notice an increase in pain, numbness, or tingling, you’ll know the bandage is too tight.

Elevation

Finally, raise your injured area above your heart as you rest. You can use pillows to prop up your leg if necessary. Raising the injury higher than your heart allows your blood to circulate better through the injury and back to your heart, which also helps prevent pain and swelling.

Why is RICE effective?

The main goal of the RICE treatment is to reduce blood flow to the injured area to keep your pain and swelling down as much as possible. The more your injured body part swells, the less function you’ll have with it. RICE limits the swelling to help your body part stay as flexible and loose as possible. 

Your injury does need a certain amount of blood flow so it can heal properly, but excessive swelling can interfere with this and keep your blood and nutrients from reaching the injury to start the healing process. If this occurs, you could be facing additional tissue damage, especially if the injury is in your extremities. RICE is important because it helps to head off these problems.

Remember that RICE is a first-aid protocol that shouldn’t be used indefinitely. Stop after two days unless your doctor advises you otherwise. Excessive use of RICE could actually slow down your natural healing process.

If you have a joint injury, Dr. Nolan and our team are here to help. Just call our Sugar Land office at 281-720-6909 to make an appointment, or book your own visit with our online scheduling tool.

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