PS: THIS IS EVIDENCE BACKED!
For years, the go-to advice after an injury was RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
Rolled your ankle? RICE it.
Tweaked your knee? RICE it.
Pulled something? You guessed it - RICE.
I even hear ORTHOPEDIC doctors still giving this advice.
But we know more about injury recovery now, and complete rest isn't usually the answer.
Instead, the PEACE & LOVE framework gives us a better way to think about soft-tissue injuries - not just what to do immediately after an injury, but how to actually get back to the things you love doing.
First, give it some PEACE
P - Protect
For the first few days, temporarily modify movements and activities that significantly increase your symptoms.
Notice I said modify, not stop moving completely.
Pain after an injury is information. The goal is to give irritated tissue enough protection to settle down without unnecessarily avoiding movement. Depending on the injury, that might mean changing your range of motion, reducing load, swapping an exercise, or taking a couple of days away from a specific activity.
E - Elevate
Elevation may help manage swelling and can feel good, particularly after an acute injury.
Elevation is free, low-risk, and can be useful for symptom management. If putting your ankle up at the end of the day makes it feel better? Go for it.
A - Avoid Anti-Inflammatory Modalities
Inflammation gets a bad reputation, but it's also a normal part of tissue healing.
That's why automatically trying to eliminate inflammation with repeated icing or anti-inflammatory medication may not always be necessary - or ideal.
That doesn't mean ice or medications like ibuprofen are never allowed. Pain management matters too, especially if pain is significantly interfering with sleep or normal daily activities. The bigger point is that we don't need to aggressively fight every bit of inflammation simply because an injury occurred.
Use symptom-relieving strategies thoughtfully rather than assuming inflammation itself is the enemy.
C - Compress
Compression can be incredibly helpful after certain injuries, particularly when swelling is involved.
An elastic wrap, compression sleeve, brace, or taping may help manage swelling and make an injured area feel more supported and comfortable.
And sometimes feeling a little more supported is exactly what you need to start moving confidently again.
E - Educate
This might be the most important part.
Your body is adaptable, and pain does not automatically mean damage.
Not every injury requires an MRI. Not every painful joint needs an X-ray. And not every injury requires weeks of rest before you're "allowed" to use it again.
A physical therapist can help determine whether your symptoms suggest that imaging or additional medical evaluation is appropriate—and, just as importantly, when it isn't.
Understanding what's happening, what you can safely do, and what recovery might look like can take a lot of fear out of an injury.
Then give it some LOVE
Once you're through that initial stage, recovery shouldn't revolve around protecting the area forever.
Tissues need appropriate stress to rebuild their capacity.
Enter: LOVE.
L - Load
Start gradually loading the injured area again.
This is one of the biggest shifts away from the old-school "just rest it" mentality.
Your body adapts to what you ask it to do. The trick is finding the right dose: enough stimulus to encourage adaptation without constantly exceeding what the tissue can currently tolerate. (hi, it’s me here to help you with this!)
That might mean starting with bodyweight movement, reducing your normal weights, modifying range of motion, changing your running volume, or temporarily scaling a workout.
Then we build from there.
O - Optimism
Your expectations about recovery matter.
Injury can make people scared to move, worried they're going to damage something again, or convinced they'll never feel "normal."
But your body isn't made of glass.
Recovery involves rebuilding physical capacity and confidence. The goal isn't simply to make your pain disappear—it's to help you trust your body again.
V - Vascularisation
Translation: get your heart rate up.
Walking, biking, rowing, swimming, or another form of pain-tolerable aerobic exercise can be a great part of recovery.
And yes, my heavy-lifting friends, sometimes cardio really is part of the prescription.
An injury to one body part also doesn't mean your entire body has to stop training. We can almost always find ways to keep you moving while respecting what needs time to heal.
E - Exercise
You knew this one was coming.
Exercise helps rebuild strength, mobility, coordination, tolerance, and confidence.
But rehabilitation shouldn't consist of doing three tiny exercises with a resistance band forever.
If your goal is to CrossFit, run, lift, hike, chase your kids, play a sport, or simply live without thinking about your injury all day, your rehab eventually needs to prepare your body for those things.
That's where good physical therapy comes in.
Injured doesn't mean fragile.
Injuries can be frustrating and sometimes scary, especially when you're not sure what you're supposed to do.
But the answer usually isn't to stop everything and wait until your body magically feels perfect again.
Protect what needs protecting. Keep moving where you can. Gradually rebuild capacity. And give your body a reason to adapt.
That's what we do at Rebuilt Physical Therapy.
We help active people navigate pain and injuries without unnecessarily giving up the workouts, sports, hobbies, and life they love. Instead of simply telling you what not to do, we'll help you figure out what you can do now—and how to build your way back to everything else.
If an injury or pain flare-up has you wondering whether you should rest it, push through it, modify it, or get it checked out, come see us.
We'll help you make a plan, keep you moving, and rebuild your confidence along the way.
