There are myriad ways to treat sports or an overuse injury. RICE is the most common protocol that many athletes opt for. In spite of RICE being the most popular treatment; it has an alternative known as MEAT treatment.
The first type being the muscle strain and the second one being a ligament or a tendon strain/sprain.
Having stated this, it is extremely beneficial to understand the difference between a muscle tissue and a ligament to effectively determine the treatment protocol. Muscle tissues are vascular in nature hence have a vast supply of blood and nutrients.
Ligaments and tendons, on the contrary, are mostly avascular in nature. This means that they have a reduced or very limited supply of blood and essential nutrients.
When it comes to acute muscle injuries, RICE is the way to go but, if an athlete has sustained a ligament/tendon injury, the MEAT approach is the most effective approach.
Muscles have a rich supply of blood. Icing minimises swelling by reducing blood supply and inhibiting fluid build up.
Fluid buildup can put pressure on the muscle known as the compartment syndrome leading to permanent damage to the muscle. Therefore, icing along with the other components of this protocol is beneficial for acute muscle injuries in most cases.
Due to the poor blood supply to the ligament, these injuries are likely to develop into a chronic sports injury and pain.
A substantially reduced blood supply leads to incomplete healing and this is the reason why icing may not be ideal. Ligament injuries need the blood supply to heal completely and MEAT does exactly that.
Every injury is unique and there is no one way to go about its treatment. Both these methods have their pros and cons and should not be followed blindly.
Utilizing components from both can be the smart thing to do when it comes to treatment.
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