{"id":18231,"date":"2013-01-24T11:10:03","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T16:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fitzness.com\/blog\/?p=18231"},"modified":"2014-10-29T11:03:35","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T16:03:35","slug":"why-you-need-rice-not-the-food-the-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fitzness.com\/blog\/why-you-need-rice-not-the-food-the-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you Need RICE – Not the Food, the Treatment!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Credit: Blackstock<\/p><\/div>\n

OK.\u00a0 You were in the middle of a great workout, getting your sweat on and Bam! You feel something tweak in your foot.\u00a0 Sure, Mom has always told you to throw frozen peas on an injury and Dad said to toughen up and walk it off.\u00a0 But what should you really do if you are injured?\u00a0 Well, if the injury seems very serious, seek a medical expert right away.\u00a0 However, if the injury doesn\u2019t seem like an emergency and you just need some sort of DIY treatment, RICE it!\u00a0 What is RICE? RICE is the recipe for healing minor injuries like sprains and strains.<\/p>\n

Rest:<\/strong> Give that injured body part a break!\u00a0 Rest is one of the best ways to give an injury time to recover from the trauma and reduce inflammation and pain.\u00a0 Don\u2019t push the affected area, and allow time for the injury to heal.<\/p>\n

Ice: <\/strong>Turns out mom wasn\u2019t wrong in telling you to put frozen veggies on a pained area.\u00a0 Ice will reduce inflammation and irritation, as well as reduce pain from the heat generated by the injury.\u00a0 While mom\u2019s suggestion works, a bag of ice wrapped in a towel will also do the trick.\u00a0 Ice the area for about 20 minutes at a time, several times a day in order to reduce pain.<\/p>\n

Compression:<\/strong> Compression helps to keep swelling down on the affected area.\u00a0 While an injury is bound to swell, compressing the area will keep the swelling down and allow blood to flow.\u00a0 Too much swelling can cause increased pain and considerable loss of function of the affected area.\u00a0 Proper compression can be achieved by wrapping the injury with an ACE bandage. Not too tight though! You don’t want to cut off circulation.<\/p>\n

Elevation:<\/strong> Finally, positioning the injury above your heart allows for better blood flow and circulation.\u00a0 Elevate the affected area using a pillow or the arm of a couch.<\/p>\n

Again, if you feel like your injury is more than something that will heal on it’s own at home quite quickly, head to a doctor. You don’t want to let something serious go untreated!
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