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Frequently Asked Questions
What do I do if I Get Hurt While Exercising?
If you experience a mild injury to a muscle (strain) or a ligament (sprain), it doesn’t necessarily require a trip to the doctor’s office. To care for this type of injury, you can use the “RICE” method. RICE is an acronym for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. This is an effective method for decreasing pain, controlling swelling and minimizing the side effects of an injury. The RICE method is applied by doing the following:
- Rest: rest is essential to allow an injury to heal properly and to avoid getting worse. You don’t always have to stop completely, you can decrease your activity to a point where you do not have any pain, but exercising through your pain will not allow an injury to heal properly.
- Ice: ice is very important in decreasing swelling and pain. Ice can be used in the form of a bag of ice or even a bag of frozen vegetables. Ice should not be used for any more than 20 minutes at a time and can be reapplied every 2 hours. If you notice that your skin turns white or blue while icing, you should stop immediately.
- Compression: compression is important for controlling swelling. A compression wrap or stocking can be used for this (an ACE wrap is a good example of this). The compression wrap should be applied immediately and should start furthest from the heart and work its way towards the heart while covering the injury. Wrapping this way will help move the fluid away from the injury. Be careful not to wrap too tight. If you start to loose circulation, loosen the wrap. You can also ice over the wrap.
- Elevation: elevation is also important to decreasing swelling. You want to make sure that you are elevating the injured body part above the heart. So, if it is your ankle that is swollen, you should lie down and place your foot up on some pillows so that it is above the level of the heart. This limits gravity and helps fluid to move away from the injury.
Lastly, this is not meant to be a replacement for going to seek appropriate medical advice. If pain persists for more than a week, you should go to a physician for a proper evaluation and treatment.
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