In the event of an accident ... RICE

Edited by Stefano Lazzarini

It can happen, in the course of a life dedicated to Sport, Fitness and exercise in the broad sense, to incur in some small injury. Don't always make a drama, it's part of the game! After all, training is nothing more than a way to stress (in a positive way) one's body, stimulating it and directing it towards improvement. And there is no way to stimulate your body unless you make it in every workout something more than what you are used to doing.

Therefore, by definition, any form of physical exercise has in itself a small dose of "risk of injury", meaning injury, a contracture, a stretch, a distortion or more generally all particularly intense muscular and articular pains. The first thing that happens in these situations is the onset of an inflammatory reaction due to the accumulation of blood, liquids and specific chemical substances with local action. The inflammation is typically composed of the five cardinal signs, which each of us has before or after "tasted" in life:

1. rubor - redness;

2 tumor - swelling;

3. heat - heat;

4. pain - pain;

5. functio laesa - inhibition of the functionality of the affected area, particularly if it is a joint.

And it is at this point, right at the beginning of the first signs, that we must intervene with the RICE.

What is this RICE?

It is a very simple intervention protocol, suggested by Sports Medicine and Orthopedics, to stem the inflammatory reaction in case of injury and to prevent it from taking over. RICE . is an English acronym.

• REST ( rest) - the part in question must be put to complete rest immediately, be it the ankle, the elbow or the calf. In the end pain is nothing but the strategy that adopts our body to prevent us from doing further damage by moving.
• ICE (ice) - immediate application of ice for periods of 20-30 minutes every hour, for the next 4 hours after the trauma. The ice should be applied evenly and cover a large area around the inflamed area.
• COMPRESSION ( compression) - or pressure of the ice pack on the inflamed part and wrapping in the intervals between one pack and another. Compression, in one way or another, must however persist for at least 24-48 hours after the accident.
• ELEVATION ( elevation) - it is recommended to keep the inflamed part above the level of the heart, so as to favor venous return and avoid further accumulation of blood.

In most cases the application of the RICE is decisive. However, if the inflammation and pain do not show up within 48 hours ... then it is the case to consult the doctor.

The complete recovery times are however very variable and dependent on the extent of the injury. A few days can be enough in the case of a simple contracture or even a few weeks in the case of stretching and distortions. It is usually enough to listen to your body and use a little common sense to understand when it is time to start exercising again.

Once fully healed, and found that it was not anything serious, there is no reason not to resume your usual physical exercise (perhaps with some more foresight). The biggest mistake is to limit yourself too much in future training sessions or worse yet stop training ... out of fear. The human body is made to be used, not preserved! A child who does not run and does not play is a child who does not risk peeling his knees. But it doesn't seem like a good reason to keep him from running and playing!