One of the first reactions by many people in responding to pain from an injury is to take pain medications. While this might help mask the pain temporarily, pain medications don’t actually treat the source of your pain. What’s more is that they often cause unwanted side effects and can be addictive. 

Instead of managing pain from injuries with pain medication, there are a couple of more beneficial options you should try.

Managing pain from injuries with P.R.I.C.E.

The P.R.I.C.E. method is a staple for athletes and should become common knowledge for everyone. You never know when you’re going to suffer from an injury, so it’s good to know how to respond to start managing your pain and improving your recovery quality right away, rather than popping a few pills.

Whether you’re already dealing with an injury or want to be prepared, you should take a moment to get familiar with the steps of P.R.I.C.E.:

• P — Protect. Keep your injury safe from harm by not putting any weight on it and preventing it from coming into contact with anything that could harm it.
  
• R — Rest. You might be someone who embraces the philosophy of pushing through the pain, but this can lead to more harm than good. When you’re injured, it’s better to rest and let your body heal than it is to try and push through the pain and end up making things worse.
  
• I — Ice. Applying a bag of ice or a cold pack to the injury can help reduce the swelling and soothe some of the pain. Be careful not to over-ice the injury, which can cause the blood vessels to constrict. Apply the ice or cold pack for 15 minutes at a time, three times per day.
  
• C — Compress. Wrapping the injury in a compression bandage can help reduce swelling and soothe the pain. When wrapping an injury, always start at the part of your body farthest away from your heart and wrap toward it. Avoid wrapping too tightly, which can inhibit your circulation and cause more pain.
  
• E — Elevate. While resting, keep your injury above your heart level. For example, if you’ve injured your ankle, put a couple of pillows under your foot while lying down so your ankle is elevated. This helps drain the fluid from swelling, which can reduce your pain.

Recovering from an injury with physical therapy

After applying the P.R.I.C.E. principle, you should contact a physical therapist for further recovery assistance. Physical therapists specialize in treatments that help you reduce your pain and improve the speed and quality of your recovery. Physical therapy treatments do not involve the use of medications or any invasive techniques.

At Franklin Rehabilitation, our physical therapists always personalize treatments to the needs of each individual. If you visit us for assistance in managing pain from your injury, we can evaluate your condition and guide you through a personalized treatment that will likely include:

• Gentle exercises for improving your strength and flexibility
• Manual therapy to help improve your range of motion and fascial mobility to decrease swelling and pain
• Posture guidance to help you sit, stand and sleep correctly while recovering
• Patient education to help you manage challenges in your day-to-day activities while recovering

Visit Franklin Rehabilitation for pain management assistance

Are you dealing with pain from an injury that’s making it hard to get through the day but you don’t want to rely on pain medications? Our physical therapists at Franklin Rehabilitation are ready to assist you in your recovery. Contact our team today for more information about pain management or to schedule an initial appointment.