July 24 2025
Move over RICER, you should be using the acronym PEACE & LOVE to manage your acute musculoskeletal injury!
- Protection: Avoid activities and movements that increase pain during the first dew days after injury.
- Elevation: Elevate the injured limb higher than the heart as often as possible.
- Avoid anti-inflammatories: Avoid taking anti-inflammatory medications as they reduce tissue healing. Avoid icing.
- Compression: Use an elastic bandage or taping to reduce swelling.
- Education: Your body know best. Avoid unnecessary passive treatments and medical investigations and let nature play its role.
- Load: Let pain guide your gradual to normal activities. Your body will tell you when its safe to increase load.
- Optimism: Condition your brain for optimal recovery by being confident and positive.
- Vascularisation: Choose pain-free cardiovascular activities to increase blood flow to repairing tissues.
- Exercise: Restore mobility, strength and proprioception by adopting an active approach to recovery.
For more information on why this works, check out this paper!
Dubois B, Esculier J. Soft-tissue injuries simply need PEACE and LOVE. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2020;54:72-73.
