Bill on R.I.C.E

[BjsAust]

I'm sure I remember reading a thread, and I thought it was from Bill discussing how the traditional RICE treatment for joint injuries (as against muscle injuries) wasnt the best way to go. So of course I turned my ankle last night and cant for the life of me find the thread where he recommended a better way to treat it. So I'm sitting here with a large purple ankle wondering if anyone can point me to the thread, or just fill me in on what he said [img]tongue.gif[/img] .

[BjsAust]

OK, so maybe it wasnt Bill, or even on this site, but damned if I can find it. Since I'm just sitting around "working from home" I'm basically thinking rest it atm. If anyone has advice on getting it back in action fastest feel free to let me know [img]smile.gif[/img] .


Also going foward, whats the best ways to help prevent these injuries? I hurt my other ankle a few months ago, I'm obviously doing things they're not used to/ready for. Is it just a matter of stretching them after training? Basically I'm playing basketball for the first time in years so any advice on preparing my ankles better for it would help [img]smile.gif[/img] .

[DKing]

If there is swelling you might want to wrap it if you know how to wrap and ankle. I would also ice it on a 15 minutes on 1.5 hours off proticol.

In terms of prevention you need to get yourself two dynadiscs, a wobble board, and a swiss ball... Sorry Bill

I think the best thing you could do would be to use more unilateral leg exercises to get the muscles that stabalize the ankle firing more. I would also ease into things. Lower intensity agility stuff to get the ankle ready for basketball.

This is stuff we have talked about in a couple of my Athletic Training classes so if its wrong someone smarter feel free to correct me.

Danny

[BjsAust]

Thanks Danny, thats what I've been doing, I just remember reading an article somewhere saying that while that was right for muscle injuries, there was something better for joint injuries.

The unilateral exercises are a good idea, unfortunately the ease into things...seasons just started and I dont have a "take it easy" setting when I'm playing [img]tongue.gif[/img] . I'll try to work on some agility stuff off the court though.

[Bill Hartman]

RICE is a must in the first 48-72 for any acute injury. It reduces the metabolism of the surrounding tissues and reduces the risk of a secondary hypoxic injury. In other words, if you don't RICE it, it will get worse and affect more tissue than what is initially injured.

The best sources I have found show 20-30 minutes of ice and 2 hours off. Even if the tissues feel normal temperature before 2 hours the deeper tissues are still below normal. Icing too frequently can also damage tissues.

Bill

[BjsAust]

Interesting stuff, I'd always been told more like 20 on, 20 off.

good thing I'm lazy [img]tongue.gif[/img] .


Whats a secondary hypoxic injury?

[DKing]

Whats a secondary hypoxic injury?


To break it down, the swelling will cause more and more inflamtion and swelling of surrounding tissues leading to a much larger area effected by the origional injury. Thats why you need to bring the swelling down quick.

Danny

[BjsAust]

Thanks.

I screwed the pooch a bit on this one. Initially it didn't swell much at all (iced it a few times that night and next morning it was barely swollen), but probably did a bit much on it the next day and didn't ice as much as I should have and the next morning it was swollen and bruised. Keeping the bandage on and ice up now.

What about after the first 3 days? Just take it easy on it? Gentle exercise/stretching? Where to from here?