Talk:RICE (medicine)

First aid
First aiders can't give medication to victims (with some exceptions - Ibuprofen not being one of them).

"A good method is ice every 20 minutes of each hour, for a 24-48 hour period." - This isn't very clear.

The above also sounds ridiculously excessive. Icing every 20 minutes for 24-48 hours!? That would be equivalent to icing for 16 hours of 48 hours. Icing for such a long time might delay healing and preventing blood circulation. Depending on injury, icing for about 10 minutes each hour for the first two hours seems enough.

Also, regarding elevation, the article doesn't say it actually is or what it constitutes, but just how it helps. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.87.220.121 (talk) 15:45, 16 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Who mentioned first aiders? This applies to self treatment as much as administration, and some first aiders can give ibuprofen - it very much depends on your jursidiction, local policies, medical oversight etc.   I agree that the ice seems excessive, so I'll try and look out some references.  Good point on elevation, I'll change that if I get a moment.  Regards OwainDavies (about)(talk) edited at 12:30, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Hello, I have removed statements about the above-mentioned icing regimen, as there is no current evidence-supported regimen. Ice has been shown to impair healing in many studies. Additionally, I rewrote the section about elevation to explain what that means. However, once again there is evidence lacking to support a specific recommendation (how high, how long). Lastly, I added a 'Current Support' section to highlight that the RICE protocol is now no longer the recommended treatment modality. Happy to receive any feedback. EVLeDO (talk) 03:48, 7 December 2022 (UTC)

Issues
There are some issues with this page.

Nowhere in the sources cited can I find an reference that shows that RICE reduces healing time. One of the few actual scientific papers in the citations is worthless as a reference because it only describes how a future study will be carried out, it does not contain any actual results of the study.

About.com is adequate as a reference for what RICE stands for, because that is not contestable knowledge, and is used appropriately here.

I am doubtful about the value of this University of Michigan reference, it is used multiple times, but mostly echoes the same information in the about.com page. Also, it is not scientific and does not include any data.

I am raising these issues because I myself have been questioning the value of RICE in reducing healing time, and came to wikipedia to check references to see if there is any evidence that it actually is effective. There seems to be little doubt that it is effective for analgesia and to reduce inflammation, but so far have yet to find any scientific studies that suggest that it speeds healing.

If anyone is able to find high-quality references that show this, please add them to this article because it would greatly improve its quality. Allethrin (talk) 15:01, 22 September 2011 (UTC)


 * It's debatable whether ice is beneficial - see here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1324096/Ice-injury-prevent-healing-Swelling-turned-head.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by Trince (talk • contribs) 21:41, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
 * See also https://www.consumerreports.org/health/avoid-ice-for-a-sprained-ankle/ The RedBurn (ϕ) 15:39, 24 November 2018 (UTC)


 * Hello, I've gone through to try to remove any citations I felt were inappropriate for this article. I also went on to remove statements I felt were not supported by the existing sources, as well as finding additional references to elaborate on current recommendations. Happy to receive any feedback.EVLeDO (talk) 03:52, 7 December 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: 2022-23 WikiMed Directed Studies
— Assignment last updated by Ewingdo 05:12, 9 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Hello! I have begun to make changes to this page for my first wikipedia edit. Over the next few days, I plan on continuing to fill in the missing citations, elaborating on the elevation section, adding to the current support section, and checking for grammar, readability, and flow. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! EVLeDO (talk) 16:49, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Hello! I started peer reviewing your article and I think you're doing a great job in adding missing citations and elaborating on sections needed! I was wondering if maybe you could mention something about what type of soft tissue injuries need the RICE method applied to it? I wasn't sure if it was mentioned somewhere else in the article or if I missed it! Skghal (talk) 18:11, 12 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the suggestion! Although it is no longer a recommended treatment, I'll add what type of injuries it used to be used for. EVLeDO (talk) 03:17, 16 December 2022 (UTC)