However, Dr. Mirkin says that icing for any more than 5 minutes is detrimental to tissue repair, and can also reduce strength, flexibility, and endurance.
If you use ice for pain management, use it no more than 5 minutes, and remove it for a minimum of 20 minutes before reapplying. According to Dr. Mirkin, there is no reason or benefit to apply ice to an injury more than six hours after the initial incident. Other physical therapists agree, at least that the main benefit of ice is pain relief, and that ice should be applied immediately after an injury and for a short period of time only.
There is limited research on the effectiveness of both heat and cold therapy. One small study found no difference in outcomes in patients with ankle injury who received no ice, or ice and compression, or ice without compression. Researchers continue to study the best way to deal with soft tissue injuries and the jury is still out on the most effective treatments.
Compression and elevation of an injury may still be appropriate and helpful. Neither action completely stops the release of IGF-1, so the immune response is still able to do its job, yet compression can help manage excessive swelling, which is often one culprit in causing pain.
Still, many experts advise that treatment should be tailored to the athlete. Functional rehab and balance training may be more effective than immobilization, particularly when in managing grade I and II ankle sprains. As an athlete, it's important to pay attention to any warning signs your body sends, and avoid injury if you can. Preventive measures such as exercising within your physical limits and using protective gear are crucial. If you do sustain a sports injury, it's important to stop playing and have a medical evaluation to determine the extent of the injury and begin the rehab process quickly.
Get exercise tips to make your workouts less work and more fun. Does cryotherapy improve outcomes with soft tissue injury? J Athl Train. Ice cryotherapy beats heat thermotherapy for treating pain and inflammation in most circumstances. Although heat initially feels warm and cozy, ice helps decrease pain and inflammation in the long run. Ice constricts, or narrows, blood vessels. Constricting blood vessels inhibits the body from allowing inflammation in the iced area.
Heat dilates, or widens blood vessels, allowing more inflammation to flow to an injured or painful area. As a general rule of thumb, ice should be used if you have recently injured an area or had surgery or a procedure. Medical studies agree that 20 minutes of icing is most effective. You should ice with a cold compress or ice pack that is the temperature of a melting ice cube. Some people have cold allergies, which cause ice to burn the skin.
Put at least a thin towel between the ice and skin to avoid burned skin. Greater than 20 minutes of icing can cause reactive vasodilation, or widening, of the vessels as the body tries to make sure the tissues get the blood supply they need.
Studies have also shown 30 to 40 minutes in between icing sessions are needed to counter this reaction. The suggested time for icing is 20 minutes on and at least 30 minutes off.
Although many articles and studies may say that heat should be used for injuries and pain that have lingered for longer than six weeks, this is not necessarily the case. For conditions such as chronic tendonitis and osteoarthritis, the body thinks that it can heal the worn or injured area. The body continues to go through a cycle of increased inflammation even though it cannot heal these conditions on its own. Icing for 20 minutes several times a day can work as well as, if not better than, oral medications and injections.
By controlling inflammation, symptoms often resolve or improve and pain subsides. Heat does have its role. Heat works best in larger muscle groups. As an example, heat helps to ease back muscle spasms — as long as the spasms are not caused by a new fall or injury.
Moist heat or heat pads work best when used for 15 minutes on at a time and at least 30 minutes off. Do not apply ice or heat to large areas of the body if only one joint or body part is the focus.
Icing may be used for sprains , strains , overuse injuries, and bruises. Applying ice has been thought to help decrease swelling and inflammation , as well as reduce pain. However, there are some details to keep in mind to make the icing treatment safer and more effective. This article explains how to properly ice your injury. It will also explore what you can use to apply cold to your injury. Do not allow ice to sit directly on the skin for long periods of time.
Either do an ice massage or use a thin towel between the ice and skin. There are a variety of ways you can apply cold to your injury. If you have an injury that you plan on icing, keep in mind the following tips.
When applying cold to your injury, you may consider using a bag or cup of ice, frozen foods, or icing products made for specific injuries. Using ice for an injury is pretty common. However, research shows that icing certain injuries can actually slow down the healing process.
When it comes to icing, be sure to only do so if the injury is swollen. Using ice can help reduce swelling so the injury can begin to heal.
There has been a lot of media controversy over the past few years into whether the widely used RICE management Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation is in fact not the best and most evidence based practice in acute injuries.
Most people in the community participating in sport are aware of and abiding by the RICE principle which includes resting and icing. See image below:. For many years we have all been taught that if something hurts or is swollen we should ice. If you sprain your ankle the normal thing to do straight away is to grab an ice pack and place it around the area. There is actually limited research to support that ice actually helps the healing process but there is a large amount of evidence suggesting the opposite — that it is harmful to the healing process by delaying recovery and impacting on long term healing.
Those that immobilise for too long often end up very stiff longer term and lose more muscle mass.
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