PEACE & LOVE: Optimum Care of Acute Soft Tissue Injuries
One of the questions we hear most often is how to treat an acute soft tissue injury at home. The short answer: the right ergonomics, therapeutic movement, and corrective exercise, applied in the right order.
From RICE to PEACE & LOVE
Injury treatment guidance has evolved a lot over the years. It started with RICE — Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation — then became PRICE, adding Protection, and later POLICE, which introduced Optimal Loading. In 2019, researchers introduced an updated framework in the British Journal of Sports Medicine: PEACE and LOVE, which lines up closely with how we already approach soft tissue management.
PEACE
Protection, Elevation, Avoid anti-inflammatories, Compression, Education.
LOVE
Load, Optimism, Vascularization, Exercise.
This evidence-based approach guides how we handle everything from a simple ankle sprain to whiplash and more complex injuries. If you're dealing with an acute injury, don't wait too long to get it looked at — delaying care can make recovery harder than it needs to be.