Many of you will have become accustomed to the acronym RICE for managing soft tissue injuries. As we know from our myth buster post on Monday, this has now been superseded by the acronyms, PEACE & LOVE. This includes the full range of soft tissue injury management from immediate care to subsequent management. We will explore this in more detail here.
PEACE: Immediate Care management
Protection – Unload or restrict movement for 1-3 days to reduce bleeding & risk of aggravating the injury. Pain guided active rest to avoid compromising tissue quality.
Elevation – Elevate the injured limb higher than the heart to help with swelling.
Avoid anti-inflammatory modalities – The inflammatory process is key to soft tissue regeneration, so NSAIDs may affect long-term tissue healing. Avoid ice as it potentially disrupts the inflammatory process & it mostly has an analgesic effect in any case.
Compress - Joint swelling & tissue bleeding may be reduced by a compressive force & not restrict the joint movement
Educate – This is key regarding load management, prognosis & appropriate exercise
LOVE: Subsequent management Load – Early mechanical stress & optimal loading is key to promote tissue repair & remodelling, tissue tolerance & capacity
Optimism – Our thoughts & expectations will influence the outcome of an injury
Vascularisation - Pain free cardiovascular activity is a motivation booster and it increases blood flow to injured structures
Exercise – Evidence supports exercise to restore mobility, strength & proprioception, promoting optimal tissue repair in the subacute phase
At Harbourside Physiotherapy, we use these principles to ensure both a short & long-term focus on injury recovery & future prevention. With a personal approach, we treat the person with the injury, not just the injury of the person.
Call Harbourside Physiotherapy today to discuss your issue with one of our Physiotherapy team to see if Physiotherapy &/or hydrotherapy can help you…
Follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates!
Comments