Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation.
Doctors have recommended this method as a standard of treating injury for decades. And while it's a good idea for the first several days after an acute injury, it is not the most effective treatment for chronic injury like Tendonitis.
Below are 4 problems that make using the R.I.C.E. method a bad idea for people suffering from new or chronic Tendonitis, regardless of whether pain symptoms are mild or severe.
1. Rest.
Rest does not cure Tendonitis. It doesn't help it heal correctly, it doesn't fix the root problem, it doesn't eliminate the cause of tendonitis.
The only benefit that resting a painful structure provides is that it reduces the amount of irritation put on a tendon injury.
So it looks like rest helps. That's why we constantly recommend it and continue to think that if we're hurting, we should just rest the area. It doesn't actually help healing. It just reduces ongoing/new irritation and that has the body turn down the protection mechanism that causes the sensation of pain.
2. Ice.
When the body gets injured, the body starts an Inflammation Process. Inflammation traps fluid in the area and releases chemicals which enhance your sensitivity to pain. The swelling that shows up after injury is from Inflammation.
Doctors prescribe the use of ice packs to be used at home to fight off inflammation. They recommend using an ice pack 3-4 times a day for about 20 a time.
This is not a bad thing. Any amount of icing is helpful. But icing for 20 minutes 3-4 times a day is just not enough to successfully overcome the Inflammation Process of a new injury, nor a chronic injury.
The Tendonitis dynamic consists of a chronic state of Inflammation. Icing just a few times a day is not going to affect the system enough, and not in the right way, to turn that Inflammation off.
Also, there is no more benefit to icing for 20 minutes than there is for 10 minutes. One it's cold it is cold. Keeping the area cold is not the best strategy for icing.
3. Compression.
Compression is a great idea for a new injury where there is a lot of swelling, like if you sprain an ankle or blow out a knee.
Using compression wraps keeps excess fluid from filling the area. This reduces pain and all the problems caused by a large Inflammation response.
But with Tendonitis, there generally is only a small amount of swelling, if any. In the case of Tennis Elbow, Wrist Tendonitis, Achilles Tendonitis, Plantar Fasciitis, etc, there is absolutely no reason to use a compression wrap to limit swelling.
The inflammation of a chronic Tendonitis dynamic is deep and specific, and unaffected by compression.
4. Elevation.
Elevation is historically recommended to help drain excess fluid out of a limb. If a person twists their ankle badly, the advice is to lay in bed or on a couch and elevate the foot higher than the level of the heart.
It's great for newly twisted ankles.
Not so effective for shoulder cuff tendonitis, or tennis elbow, for instance. Partly because it's tough to elevate these more than they are, but mostly because the painful day to day experience of these kinds of tendonitis problems don't have any noticeable swelling as one of their symptoms.
But let's say you did use a compression wrap for any kind of Tendonitis. The key element that makes compression wrapping useless is that it doesn't address the cause of the Inflammation and swelling.
It's great to control symptoms, but it's better to effectively treat the source of the symptoms.
Tendonitis follows a very set pattern of progression. Elevation does not stop or slow the progression. Compression does not stop or slow the progression. Ice can very much help, but as historically prescribed, is just not effective for getting rid of Tendonitis. And rest might reduce pain, it does not address the cause of the pain and problem, so it is a good idea to start looking for more effective methods of fixing your Tendonitis, instead of using R.I.C.E. to continue to limp along.
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Joshua Tucker, B.A, C.M.T is The Tendonitis Expert. He educates and trains individuals to ELIMINATE their Tendonitis related issues like Tennis Elbow, Carpal Tunnel, Wrist Tendonitis, and Shoulder Cuff Tendonitis. Joshua says "When you THINK you've tried all available options and they have failed, it's time to come talk to me."
For more of the RIGHT information about how to Eliminate your Tendonitis, no matter how bad it is or how long you've had it, visit http://www.TendonitisExpert.com