PRICEMM

BY KATHLEEN

“PRICEMM” Catchy, isn’t it? PRICEMM is the mnemonic device to remem­ber how to treat a mild sports injury. A mild sports injury may involve pain, swelling, lim­ited range of motion, and/or loss of strength.

Pro­tec­tion: This means stop­ping the activ­ity to pre­vent fur­ther injury. Pain is the body’s way of say­ing some­thing is wrong.

Rest: After an acute injury, use of the injured body part should be lim­ited for 24 hours. Rest­ing the injured body part will decrease fur­ther tis­sue damage.

Ice: Crushed ice should be applied directly to the injured body part imme­di­ately after the injury occurs. Ice should be applied for 20 min­utes every one to four hours. Crushed ice with a small amount of water in a zip top bag or bag of frozen peas or corn can be applied directly to the skin. These are pre­ferred over com­mer­cial gel packs, which can get much colder. If a gel pack is used, place a cloth or towel between the pack and skin to avoid frost­bite. Do not apply heat with the first 72 hours of a sports injury.

Com­pres­sion: Direct pres­sure, through the use of wraps or braces, can limit swelling. Check with your health­care provider for the appro­pri­ate method for your injury.

Ele­va­tion: Rais­ing the injured body part above the heart helps drain extra fluid away from the injury site.

Motion: After 24 hours, you can begin mild range of motion exer­cise, but this should be done with­out plac­ing weight on the injury and in such a way not to cause severe pain.

Med­i­cine: Check with your health­care provider to see if med­i­cine is appro­pri­ate for you and your injury.

Source: Children’s Health­care of Atlanta Sport Med­i­cine Pro­gram. For more infor­ma­tion on the pro­gram, visit www​.choa​.org/​s​p​o​r​t​s​med

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