How To Use PEACE and LOVE to recover from an injury

Even though most of us do all we can to avoid getting injured, there are times that accidents happen or we push ourselves a little too far during our workout. Of course, plenty of us know the basics when it comes to recovering, as RICE has been a part of our lives for so many years.

However, it could be time to push RICE aside in favor of PEACE and LOVE. Have no idea where to start? Have no fear; learning how to use PEACE and LOVE to recover from an injury is so simple that it should soon become second nature.

PEACE and LOVE focus on immediate and long-term care for an injury

While RICE focuses on what you need to do as soon as you injure yourself, PEACE and LOVE are a little different. In fact, the former focuses on what to do in the moment, while the latter is what to do in the long term. When it comes to PEACE, it stands for Protection, Elevation, Avoid anti-inflammatories, Compression, and Education. Simply put, this means avoiding movement and reducing the risk of worsening your injury, getting your injury higher than your heart, avoiding anti-inflammatory medication, using bandages or tape to apply pressure to reduce swelling, and speaking to a health care professional to see if you need further treatment. From there, it’s all about LOVE, which stands for Load, Optimism, Vascularization, and Exercise. What does this mean? So long as you’re not in pain, try putting weight on the area, focus on what you need to do to recover, use cardio exercise to increase blood flow to the area, and gently exercise to improve strength and mobility.

Are PEACE and LOVE better than RICE?

One of the biggest differences between the PEACE and LOVE method and the RICE method is the fact the former encourages people to avoid anti-inflammatory medication. This is down to the idea that inflammation is our body’s natural way of removing harmful stimuli from the area and is the beginning of the healing process. While icing the area falls under anti-inflammatory methods, there are times that it can help to reduce the amount of pain in an area. If you need to ice an injury, physical therapist and sports specialist Leada Malek recommends using ice for 15 to 20 minutes - using appropriate skin protection - until the area feels numb. However, Malek also suggests avoiding using ice multiple times a day, as you might with the RICE method. The PEACE and LOVE method also looks to the future, with the latter helping someone to get active again as they continue to recover from a soft tissue injury, which can be vital to someone’s recovery.

Soft tissue injuries are best for PEACE and LOVE

Once you know what they mean, the PEACE and LOVE methods are pretty straightforward, but you should only use them for things like soft tissue injuries, such as a minor strain or sprain. If you have a more serious injury, it’s still best to use the RICE method to start before talking to a healthcare professional to see what else you need to do. If you do rely on the PEACE and LOVE methods, you should use the first part of the treatment for a few days before the swelling starts to go down and you feel comfortable enough to move on to the second part of recovery. Whatever the case, it’s all about listening to your body and reaching out for medical help if you think your injury is more serious.

Learning how to use PEACE and LOVE to recover from an injury doesn’t have to be tough and could really change the way that we get back on our feet after a setback. Of course, it all depends on the situation and the type of injury you receive.