I spent a couple hours last night in the Emergency Room with my daughter.
She twisted her ankle at dance class. It was big and very painful.
All is well. Nothing's broken.
But on the way to the hospital we had quite a discussion about how RICE has been replaced with MICE.
Just in case you didn't know, I thought I'd pass this little nugget of wisdom on to you. Oh, and when you mention this to others, don't be surprised if they tell you I'm wrong.
RICE is an acronym for what you should do after a soft tissue injury. It stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. The R, for Rest, is most often translated as immobilization. That means you should splint or brace your injured body part so it doesn't move.
The remainder of the acronym is pretty self-explanitory. Chilling the sore spot with ice helps reduce swelling and decreases pain.
Wrapping your injury with an elastic bandage also helps you avoid swelling and pooling of body fluids around the injury. This type of compression also snugs the soft tissue up against bone, which aids in healing and pain reduction.
Elevation also helps avoid or eliminate swelling, which is painful and delays healing.
So what's wrong with RICE? Not too much. But MICE works better.
What should you do? MICE a soft tissue injury. Move it. Ice it. Compress it during the breaks between your "keep it moving" sessions, and Elevate it (preferably while stretching and moving the affected body parts).
Now you know the scheme. But first you need to make sure you don't have a catastrophic injury (fractured bone or muscle shred). Then get busy. You'll be back in play sooner that with RICE.
This is also one of those examples of how that which is true on a smaller scale is also true on a larger scale. The general idea is that movement is healing. Your body was meant to move. When you spend long stretches of time sitting at a desk or lying on the couch your health begins to diminish.
So move. And MICE when you need to.
Don't just read about it. Get up. Experience it. Experience yoga!
Kevin Perry
www.ExperienceYoga.org
p.s., This is my note of special thanks to Shanon Buffington and Lisa Marshall who took such great care of us this weekend while we were in Dallas. Their hospitality and kindness were amazing and appreciated! Sallie and I had a great time at the Surya Center for Yoga. It was so great to meet so many fabulous Texas yogis. We can't wait to go back. Plans are already in the works.
p.p.s., So many of you sent me warm birthday greetings. Thank you. I enjoyed every one of them. How inspiring!
p.p.p.s., If you'd like to read the amazing story of Tom Nohilly, who used MICE to recover quickly from a severe ankle sprain he got when he hit a barrier in the steeple chase prelims at the 1992 Olympic Trials, see pages xxi and xxii in The Wharton's Stretch Book here.
Copyright 2005. All rights reserved, Mo Yoga LLC.
