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Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

(www.scientificamerican.com)
611 points sohkamyung | 3 comments | 19 Feb 25 12:36 UTC | HN request time: 0.002s | source
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faitswulff ◴[19 Feb 25 14:20 UTC] No.43102422[source]▶
If anyone's heard of RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) for healing joints, the new guidance is called POLICE: Protect, Optimal Load, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. The key differences being Protect and Optimal Load, meaning don't re-injure it and expose it to some level of weight-bearing or usage.
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dfxm12 ◴[19 Feb 25 14:31 UTC] No.43102512[source]▶
Anyone can RICE their joints. It's foolproof, more or less objective and requires no monitoring from a professional.

What defines optimal load? It sounds impossible to gauge, unless maybe if you're working with a physical therapist. Then, what happens if load more than the optimal level? Is the outcome worse than if you just stuck to RICE? I think these are things that have to be considered for medical protocols.

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paulcole ◴[19 Feb 25 14:54 UTC] No.43102750[source]▶
> I think these are things that have to be considered for medical protocols

What makes you think those things haven't been considered?

The comment you replied to said, "the new guidance is..." I took that to mean those things have been considered.

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dfxm12 ◴[19 Feb 25 15:17 UTC] No.43102981{3}[source]▶
I mean considered per patient. Pro wrestler Kerry von Erich had to get his broken foot amputated because he thought it felt good enough to walk across the room to get a cheeseburger. Not everyone can gauge these things on their own, especially considering people with broken bones may be taking pain killers. Not everyone can have professionals, or even loved ones, around them to monitor it.
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1. paulcole ◴[19 Feb 25 15:53 UTC] No.43103428{4}[source]▶
I mean so we don't make a generally good recommendation because one pro wrestler got their foot amputated?

The fact that general medical guidance isn't tailored to you shouldn't come as a surprise. Whether you take it or not is up to you.

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2. dfxm12 ◴[19 Feb 25 16:04 UTC] No.43103599[source]▶
I mean so we don't make a generally good recommendation because one pro wrestler got their foot amputated?

Please try to converse in good faith.

The fact that general medical guidance isn't tailored to you shouldn't come as a surprise.

In general, doctors treat people, not ailments.

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3. paulcole ◴[19 Feb 25 16:52 UTC] No.43104278[source]▶
> Please try to converse in good faith.

Can you just trot that out when you don't like that the other person thought your point was ridiculous?

If you are able to say that the majority of people are bad candidates for POLICE over RICE then I'd engage with that. But it feels unlikely that you can do this because the prevailing medical wisdom seems to be that the majority of people are good candidates for POLICE over RICE.

I will acknowledge that if a patient is a drug-addled professional wrestler who is desperate for a burger then yes perhaps they should just stay off the foot.