PEACE and LOVE for Pediatric Sports Injuries
PEACE & LOVE for pediatric sports injuries
Pediatric sports injuries are unavoidable. Keep reading to learn how to start the healing process for acute injuries from sports practice, playing with friends, and everything in-between!
If you were an athlete growing up, there’s a high chance your coach used the RICE approach (rest, ice, compression, elevate) to speed up healing your sprained ankles and pulled muscles. The main goal was to protect whatever your injured area was by completely stopping all movement so your body can do what it does best — heal itself. It was thought the priority should be reducing swelling as quickly as possible to reduce damage to the joint. Since our childhoods, there have been major discoveries with injury recovery and we’re learning new and better ways to help support our little athletes!
Although RICE can help injuries at the tissue level, it unfortunately doesn’t encompass enough factors to help at the functional level. Good news is the joint isn’t super spicy anymore, but how helpful is that if your kiddo has now lost major mobility and confidence in movement?
In recent years, there’s been a new injury approach called PEACE & LOVE which works to assist injury recovery while also maintaining range of motion and strength. We will break down the details below, but the key difference is rest is good when used in moderation. Instead of hanging out binging movies for a week, check in with your young athletes as the first few days pass and start to reintroduce easy movements and exercises based on their pain symptoms. Help your kiddo listen to their body and work with a provider who promotes an active recovery!
Before we get into the new PEACE & LOVE guidelines, let’s lay the groundwork for what we are going to call “safe pain” versus “unsafe pain”. Safe pain is tolerable pain rated at or below a 4/10. This is pain or discomfort that may not be the most comfortable, but it is productive. It helps build the foundation for working through pain and building tolerance to a painful movement. Unsafe pain is not tolerable pain rated above a 5/10. It is highly uncomfortable and it is not productive pain working towards a goal. When we are working with the PEACE & LOVE approach, we want to gradually progress movement within the realm of safe pain.
Immediately after the injury:
P = Protect
We still want to rest for 1-3 days, but ideally the fewer the better. This initially minimizes bleeding and tissue reaggravation while the cells start to repair themselves.
E = Elevate
Lift the injured limb above their heart as a low risk way to reduce accumulation of fluid.
A = Avoid anti-inflammatory modalities
While ice can help manage pain and control inflammation, it also reduces blood flow to the damaged area at a time it needs it most. Same thing with anti-inflammatory medications, they can slow or block the inflammatory process needed for healing.
C = Compress
Gentle compression with a sleeve or tape controls edema and swelling — so long as it’s not too tight and doesn’t interfere with range of motion!
E = Educate
Know that most pediatric sports injuries will heal themselves with time, but reach out to a trusted provider if the pain continues or if something doesn’t feel right. We can help figure out what specific areas are damaged and give you a timeline for recovery!
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A few days after the injury:
L = Load
Start moving that injured area! This doesn’t mean letting your kiddo go back to practice or running before they’re ready. Instead, we want to start gently moving their injured limb with pain free or minimal pain movements.
O = Optimism
Perspective is everything following an injury. Research tells us fear of reinjury can impact symptoms and recovery just as much as the actual tissue damage itself. Try and stay positive!
V = Vascularization
Bringing more blood to the area means bringing more healing cells and nutrients to their injured structures. Gentle movement and cardio is key for improving that joint’s function.
E = Exercise
Over time, we want to slowly progress from more easy to more difficult exercises. Again, staying within the sensation of safe, tolerable pain/discomfort! Strength, range of motion, and brain-body communication respond best to an active healing period.
Using the PEACE and LOVE approach to manage sudden injuries helps parents and providers plan for long term outcomes of young athletes, not just short term pain. Give us a call or email if you need help figuring out what introductory movements are best for your child’s injury!
XO, DR. MALIA WEINANDT & THE WELL SPINE TEAM