If you’ve ever had a kidney stone or broken bone, you know it can be debilitating. Acute pain that can result from an illness, injury, or surgery may be short term, but it still can get in the way of your daily activities and routines.
Your doctor will likely recommend a combination of over-the-counter pain-relieving medications and physical therapies, depending on the cause and severity of the pain. There are also many proven strategies you can try at home to manage acute pain. Here are a few to discuss with your healthcare provider.
1. Rely on the RICE Method
A good first step in addressing acute pain, especially for any type of musculoskeletal injury, is to try the RICE method, says Trishul Kapoor, MD, a pain management specialist at Cleveland Clinic in Twinsburg, Ohio.
The RICE method treats acute inflammation in the soft tissues, such as ligaments, muscles, and tendons, that can be damaged by a sprain, bruise, or broken bone. RICE stands for:
Rest Your body needs time to heal without risk of further damage. Resting gives your immune system a chance to respond to the damaged tissue.
Ice Applying cold packs or ice packs to areas of inflammation causes the blood vessels to constrict, numbing the pain by slowing down nerve signals.
Compression A stretchy compression bandage can help control severe swelling.
Elevation Propping up the injured part of your body to a position that’s higher than your heart slows blood flow to the injury, which helps limit bleeding and lower blood pressure.
2. Try Nonopioid Pain Medications
Acetaminophen and nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), such as ibuprofen and naproxen, are available without a prescription. These medications work by inhibiting the production of prostaglandin, a chemical that triggers pain. Nonselective NSAIDs should be used cautiously, because they carry the risk of ulcers, gastrointestinal bleeding, and cardiovascular events.
Using both acetaminophen and NSAIDs on an alternating schedule can get you ahead of the pain. “Combining medications has been shown to provide maximal benefit and decrease the overall dosage of individual medications,” says Dr. Kapoor. You can switch between the recommended doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen every six to eight hours.
Topical NSAIDs can be applied at the site of the pain and are effective in treating acute musculoskeletal sprains and strains. But make sure you’re applying them to an unbroken skin surface with no cuts or wounds.
3. Apply Temperature Therapies
Talk to your doctor about whether ice, heat, or a combination of both is best for the acute pain.
In general, ice is for inflammation and best for acute injuries, headaches, and migraine attacks, says Kapoor. If you don’t have a cold pack, a bag of frozen vegetables will do. Wrap whichever cold therapy you decide to use in a thin towel before applying it to the skin for no more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time. You can do this several times a day, for up to two weeks, but allow the skin to return to its normal temperature between applications.
Heat is usually more for chronic pain, but you can apply it for soothing discomfort, relaxing muscles, and easing stiffness, says Kapoor. Heat therapy dilates blood vessels, increasing blood flow to the affected area, which can help with healing. You can use a heating pad, hot water bottle, or moist heated towel. Apply for no more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time.
You can also take a warm bath or shower, says Kapoor.
4. Remember to Hydrate
An easy at-home remedy for pain is to drink water. Water is vital for synovial fluid (joint lubricant) and spinal disk cushioning, preventing friction, shock absorption issues, and stiffness that cause pain, says Kapoor. Hydration helps flush out metabolic waste and toxins that trigger inflammation. Keeping yourself hydrated also helps:
Deliver nutrients to tissues
Maintain nerve function
Promote healing
Support overall bodily functions
On the flip side, dehydration interferes with electrolytes (essential minerals, such as sodium, potassium, and calcium, that are crucial for key bodily functions, including how your heart beats and how well you stay hydrated), which can lead to more acute pain in the form of cramps, spasms, and tightening of the muscles. Dehydration can also decrease endorphins, which are your body’s natural painkillers, and increase pain perception, says Kapoor.
The popular advice has been eight glasses of water a day, but you may need more — as much as 3.7 liters of fluids daily for men and 2.7 liters for women — depending on your individual health and factors such as how much you sweat from exercise or warm weather. Fluids include water, milk, juice, and herbal tea.
5. Set Up Your Space for Recovery
Depending on the cause of the pain, you may want to optimize your home for the fastest and safest recovery. Some ideas:
Remove throw rugs or anything that could contribute to a fall, which can endanger recovery.
Sleep close to the bathroom, or keep a commode near your bed.
Fluff up some extra pillows to cushion yourself while in resting position.
Use grab bars when getting in and out of the tub.
Reach out to others for help with shopping, meals, or cleaning.
Above all, pace yourself and be patient with the healing process. Talk to your doctor about a reasonable plan for managing acute pain from home. And let your doctor know if symptoms persist or get worse.
The Takeaway
Acute pain is a sudden onset of pain that varies in intensity from annoying to debilitating and is usually caused by an underlying issue, such as illness, injury, or surgery.
While there are prescription pain medicines and other intervention therapies available, sometimes the best approach is to manage pain from home with some simple strategies.
Using the RICE method, temperature therapies, and over-the-counter pain medications are some of the ways you can manage acute pain at home on your own.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Laura J. Martin, MD, MPH, is a board-certified internal medicine and palliative care physician practicing at City of Hope in Atlanta.
She received a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's of public health in nutrition from Tulane University. She received her medical degree from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine and completed her residency in internal medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.
Dr. Martin previously worked as a medical editor for WebMD and received a Sigma Delta Chi award for online reporting in 2010 and 2011. She is a co-editor of the Ambulatory Medicine Case Book.She is a member of the American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and American Society of Clinical Oncology.
She is married with two adult daughters, a dog, and two cats. She enjoys hiking and playing classical and jazz piano.
Nina Wasserman is a journalist with more than a decade of experience interviewing people and writing on a variety of topics, including health, medicine, business, and faith, as well as human interest stories. Wasserman also home-schools her two children in New Jersey and teaches writing to middle school students. Her passion is foraging for mushrooms and edible plants in the woods, a practice that contributes to her health and wellness.
