Homeopathy: a 200-year-old school medical theory and practice that tries to work with the symptoms of the body, rather than suppressing them.

2torial #0612: Learn2 Treat a Pulled Muscle (continued)   Learn the RICE guidelines. RICE is short for rest, ice, compression, elevation. These are the home remedies that are very effective for Grade 1 sprains. If carefully followed, this simple formula will speed up and improve the healing process considerably. Note, however, that RICE isn't in chronological order. You should elevate the injured muscle as you ice it; and you shouldn't compress it until you've applied ice and elevated the injured muscle. (More details to follow.) Rest, however, is certainly the first step on the road to complete recovery.   Rest: If possible, immediately discontinue use of the strained muscle, don't finish out the game you're playing or the workout you're doing. And limit the area's use as much as possible in the next 24-48 hours. And here's something to consider, if you find yourself going back to your workout the day after the strain. Some folks suffer a psychological condition known as injury depression, which results from a fear that their injury will prevent them from returning to the sport or activity that they love. In this case, the ancient Chinese wisdom of "doing nothing to accomplish something" is particularly relevant. Lay off the activity that you were doing when you strained the muscle, try to be patient, and stay active with other, less intensive forms of exercise. A forced or hastened recovery often resurfaces a month later as a more serious and debilitating injury. If you take time for the healing process to complete itself, you'll enjoy fewer injuries in the future. Ice: Ice application is crucial to the healing process. The moist cold from the ice penetrates deeply into muscle, slowing down the flow of blood to the area. This reduces the swelling which can lead to pain and restricted movement. As a bonus, the nerve endings in the area are numbed by the cold and will send fewer pain signals to the brain, which means less pain for you. Choose a pack, any pack: Here you have some options, depending how well prepared you are. If you train regularly (say, five days a week), consider investing in a reusable, combination cold and hot pack that you place in the freezer and then apply it to the muscle. Otherwise, you can improvise with whatever is at hand: a tray of ice cubes wrapped in a towel, a frozen bag of peas (reusable), or a paper cup filled with water and frozen. Regardless of the type of cold pack, be sure to cover it with a towel or cotton cloth of some kind. Exposed ice applied directly to your skin can produce a burn--a superficial kind of frostbite. (The exception is the paper cup filled with water and frozen. That you can apply directly to the skin, as long as you continuously circulate the chunk of ice around the area of the strained muscle. Tear off horizontal strips of the paper cup as the ice melts down.) Frequency: Ice down the muscle in increments of 20 minutes--20 minutes of ice on the muscle, 20 minutes with no ice, and repeat. Continue with this "Ice On, Ice Off " schedule for up to two hours per session, with at least two sessions per day. Follow this schedule for the first 24-72 hours, depending on the severity of the strain. More severe strains will require additional days of ice treatment beyond 72 hours. If you're doing any alternative exercise, be sure to ice down the muscle very soon after finishing. For additional reduction of swelling, elevate the injured area as you ice it (see below).   How are you feeling? Here's the list of sensations you'll feel when you apply ice to an area: cold, stinging, burning, and the last stage, numbness. Remove the ice pack once the area feels numb, even if 20 minutes hasn't passed. If you're alone for the ice application and you're lying down, set a timer that will wake you up in case you fall asleep. While most folks think that a big lump of ice would prevent any snoozing, numbness does set in. Recently, college athletes have fallen asleep with an ice pack on them and have woken up an hour and a half later with a frozen nerve: an injury that requires six months of intensive physical rehabilitation.       Heat: Some physical therapists recommend heat as well as ice, after 48 hours have passed. Evening is a good time for heat application, having completed the ice applications for the day. A moist heat is necessary: a hot compress purchased for this purpose (heated in a pot of boiling water) works best. Apply the heat for a single session of 20 minutes. (Lacking a compress, soak the area in a tub of hot water for ten minutes.) Heat will bring extra blood circulation to the area and will decrease the possibility of muscle spasm. Note: some trainers swear by heat, others strongly recommend against it. Try it and see what effect it has on the injured muscle. Compression: When possible, compressing the injured area with an ace wrap (or other reusable elastic bandage) helps into two ways: one, it reduces swelling through the pressure of the bandage; and two, it supports the muscle and limits its movement somewhat, thereby reducing the possibility of additional strain. Compression is best applied after a session of ice application and elevation and before you do any activity--so don't strap on an ace wrap as you go to sleep for the night. Wrapping the bandage is an art in itself--you want a supportive compression, but you don't want to cut off too much circulation, either. To avoid turning an ace wrap into a tourniquet, start the wrap at the edge of the injured area that's furthest from the body, and wrap towards the body. If you've strained your calf muscle, then start the wrap at the ankle and wrap towards the knee. If you've strained your thigh, then start the wrap above the knee and wrap towards the hip. Keep the wrap on for up to two hours; if your schedule allows it, ice and elevate the injured area immediately after unwrapping it. Note: keep an eye on the wrapped limb; if its color turns white or blue, then unwrap it immediately, and wrap it less tightly next time. Elevation: Elevation reduces pain and swelling by helping to drain fluids from the injured muscle, and is usually accompanied by an ice application. Here's how to proceed: Get comfortable. If the muscle is in your arm or leg, use some pillows to prop up that limb higher than the heart--that means you may want to lie down so that you aren't propping your leg up on five feet of pillows. If the muscle is in your neck or back, just lie on your stomach or in a position where you can be comfortable. Get a book or magazine, put on an ice pack, and move as little as possible. Medications: Homeopathic remedies: Athletes are turning more and more to homeopathic remedies to speed up and improve the healing process. While you should read up on homeopathic diagnoses or visit a homeopath (a doctor practicing homeopathy) before trying any oral remedies, topical remedies like Arnica have proven to be very effective on muscle and joint strains. Helpful western medications: Ibuprofen and naproxen are effective anti-inflammatory agents: they will reduce swelling in the area (and pain as well). Aspirin and acetaminophen also can be helpful for reducing pain and swelling. All of these drugs can upset your stomach, so give a trial to discover which drug you tolerate best. In all cases, consider looking for generic brands of these drugs; if the potency is the same as a name brand, you'll get the same effect for a lot less money.     Step 2