Should You Still Ice An Injury?
Danielle Ivie, DPT, CSCS | Founder of Powered by Movement Physical Therapy
After an injury, one of the most common questions I get in the clinic is: “Should I ice or heat?”. If
you are a millennial like myself, you likely grew up religiously following the RICE method: Rest – Ice – Compression – Elevation. Dr. Gabe Mirkin coined the term “RICE” in 1978 as a treatment
approach for athletic injuries. In 2014, Mirkin publicly reversed his position suggesting that ice
and rest could delay healing rather than help it, yet it is 2026 and people are still blindly following
the RICE recommendation.
I’m not saying that ice is bad and should be avoided at all costs. In a lot of scenarios, if ice feels
good to you, it won’t do much harm. What I’m saying is that counting on ice and rest to fix your
injury isn’t going to cut it.
Beyond Mirkin debunking his own recommendation in 2014, studies about early healing have
continued to be published. This 2022 article proposed the idea that higher levels of early
inflammation may protect from development of chronic pain. This shifts our goals from rest and
ice to recommendations of a more active approach to injury healing.
The old recommendation was RICE: Rest – Ice – Compression – Elevation. While compression and elevation remain as key components of injury healing, we have learned that ice and rest are not the best approach! Ice and rest may actually delay the healing process, and we definitely don’t want that.
A more informed and updated recommendation after injury is to practice PEACE & LOVE to get
you back to your favorite activities.
PEACE: Protection – Elevation – Avoid anti-inflammatories – Compression – Education
LOVE: Load – Optimism – Vascularization – Exercise
Whoa that’s a mouth full! The take home message is this:
- Use compression and elevation to manage swelling.
- Avoid anti-inflammatories if possible as some early inflammation can actually be
beneficial to the healing process. - Maintain a strength and cardio focused exercise routine with modifications as needed.
- Stay optimistic about your recovery, you got this!
Want to see what this method looks like in real time? Check out PXM’s YouTube Video for a
practical application of PEACE & LOVE for a knee injury.
At PXM, we help active people in St. Louis recover from injury, optimize movement, and stay out of pain for
the long term while reaching their health & fitness goals. With our unique approach to physical therapy, our
top priority is to provide you with holistic, fitness forward healthcare that emphasizes your goals.
We get you back to thriving in the activities you love with our 3 step process:
POWER UP: Diagnose and understand the root cause of your problem.
POWER BOOST: Create a custom plan for you to restore function & get back to what you love.
POWER PEAK: Optimize performance to keep pain away for good & get stronger than ever.
Not sure if PXM is right for you? Have more questions? Schedule a Free Consultation today.
Dr. Danielle Ivie, DPT, CSCS
Powered by Movement, LLC
567 Hanley Industrial Ct., Brentwood, MO 63144
314-252-0504 | www.poweredxmovement.com