What Does RICE Stand For?
When injury occurs, there are so many different treatments that can be used to turn an injury around and promote positive outcomes for our musculoskeletal health. Often times, it is difficult to determine what exactly is the right treatment to use, as the plethora of treatments available can actually be overwhelming.
In the United States, the common tendency is to get surgery if the injury is bad enough and if it is less serious, then the use of pain medication and other pharmaceuticals is often incorporated to mitigate the injury and restore the body to proper health. However in an effort to treat injury in the musculoskeletal system, people often look past the principles of alternative medicine and chiropractic care in in effort to get better.
The beauty of chiropractic care as a medical discipline is in the complete lack of any sort of surgery or pharmaceutical medication in chiropractic care. The main focus of chiropractic care is all-natural treatment and an overall assessment of the body to determine what is causing problems. Once a diagnosis achieved, the chiropractor can perform a series of adjustments and other treatments to modify the alignment of the body and bring about the best possible layout of the musculoskeletal system.
Before this occurs, chiropractors assert that the patient should begin treatment of an injury with a R.I.C.E. regiment to get better. This acronym stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. The rest component refers to staying off of your feet and making sure that you are not using the body part in question. The next component of the system is ice. When ice is applied to the injury, the swelling in the injured area is reduced which leads to faster recovery and improvement in the range of motion. Compression refers to the application of force to the injured area to ensure adequate blood flow. Finally, the elevation component refers to keeping the injured body part, like the ankle for example, elevated to maintain adequate blood flow and also reduce swelling.
In using these four treatment interventions, you can expect to see a huge difference when you are injured. Chiropractors recommend starting with this treatment and depending on the severity of the injury, the patient should follow up with chiropractic care where they will receive an adjustment. The R.I.C.E. regiment in combination with chiropractic care can be an effective force in your recovery.
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of David Amsler