February 23, 2009
So you are out to sea and have just injured yourself. You tripped and twisted your ankle, perhaps. What should you do?
RICE is the answer. No, not the kind you eat. RICE is the acronym for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. You can treat sprains, strains, bruises and pulled muscles with RICE.
Here is the easy-to-remember method for treating sprains, strains, bruises and pulled muscles.
Rest. This step is just as it sounds. Stop using and protect the injured or sore muscle, tendon, ligament or other tissue from further injury.
Discontinue any activity that may make the pain worse. Your body has just been injured and it needs time to heal itself. If you do not allow the injured area to rest and heal, the injury may become worse. Bottom line, protect the injured body part as it requires rest to heal.
Ice. Use cold to reduce pain and to prevent or minimize swelling to the injured area. You can apply regular ice in a plastic sandwich bag, cold packs, instant ice, or even frozen peas to the injured area.
Place a thin towel over the skin before applying the ice to protect the skin. Never apply ice directly to the skin as it could damage your skin.
Apply ice to the injury for about 15 minutes, and then remove it for 15-20 minutes, repeating this process at least three times a day for the first two days. The ice will reduce swelling and minimize pain but the injury should only be iced for 15 minutes at a time to prevent injury from exposure to cold. After 48 to 72 hours, if you have no swelling, apply heat to reduce pain.
Compression. Compression is wrapping the injured area with an elastic bandage. The compression bandage should be snug, but not incredibly tight. Wrapping too tightly may cause injury.
We wrap the injury for several reasons. Wrapping reduces swelling, it often reduces pain and it helps to protect the injured area from further injury.
If you feel throbbing, the bandage is wrapped too tight. Remove it and re-wrap the injured area so that the bandage is not as tight.
Signs that the bandage may be too tight include tingling, increased pain, numbness, cool skin temperature or swelling in the area below the bandage.
Elevation. If possible, elevate the injured area above your heart. Elevating the injury will reduce swelling. If you injured your ankle, you will need to lie down, and place a few pillows under your ankle to get it above your heart. About 12 inches above the heart is your target for elevation.
If necessary, you can add another element to RICE. This would be the S,
which would now be RICES. The S stands for splinting. Splinting will decrease swelling and decrease pain by immobilizing the injury.
If after 48 hours of RICE(S) the pain and/or swelling does not decrease you should seek medical attention.
People with Raynaud’s, diabetes, sensitivity to cold or any medical condition with reduced blood flow to the extremities should not use RICE therapy. Instead these people must seek medical attention.
Keith Murray, a former Florida firefighter EMT, is the owner of The CPR School, a mobile training company that provides CPR, AED and first aid training. He also sells and services automated external defibrillators. Contact him at +1-561-762-0500 or keith@theCPRschool.com . Comments on this column are welcome at editorial@the-triton.com .
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