It’s Time to Rethink Injury Treatment

Let’s say you sprain your ankle… what do you do?

RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) and anti-inflammatories, of course! Um, well, no. I’m going to challenge your mother or father’s go-to fix for injury treatment and tell you to just R, within reason; C, within reason; and E, within reason. That’s right, I said to ditch the ice and anti-inflammatories!

Why You Shouldn’t Rush to Treat Inflammation

Let me start with a little biology lesson; I’ll keep it brief. Inflammation is your body’s natural response to injury – it’s a good thing! The purpose of inflammation is to bring healing blood and nutrients to injured tissue; it helps to clear out dead and damaged cells, and begin tissue repair.

Inflammation also let’s you know that your body is not happy about something. For example, if your body is mechanically “off” (poor posture, stiff joints, flat feet, etc),...