Icing Injuries
Historically, doctors, medical professionals, basically any and everyone has always encouraged applying ice to an acute injury. It is well known that applying ice constricts the blood vessels, which limits the blood supply to an injured area. Because it’s a vasoconstrictor it can help reduce swelling to an injured area, however, the negative affect of this is that the blood supply, which also carries nutrients and healing properties, is also significantly reduced. There is more and more evidence in the favor of not using ice for an acute injury because it actually delays the body’s natural healing process, thus, delaying ones recovery.
Extended periods of rest ice compression and elevation (RICE) are no longer the gold standard for recovering from an acute injury. Short term rest for an initial injury of 1 to 2 days is supported, however, early mobilization and loading is actually beneficial to one’s healing and recovery process. Muscle activation and contraction assists with lymph drainage which can help reduce swelling in tissue. This is of course once a fracture has been ruled out.
One of the biggest issues that I have seen with soft tissue injuries where the person
delayed the start of mobilizing and loading was hypersensitivity and increased pain. The idea behind early movement and loading is that your brain is able to get out of its protective mode. According to Wolf’s Law, the body adapts to the demands that are placed upon it. So overtime your body will adapt to gradual loading and movement. If you never load or begin to move it, your body will never adapt to be able to move like it once did. The longer you wait the more difficult this becomes.
Nonetheless, it is important that I mention that research heavily supports the use of ice for pain. It’s an effective analgesic that can help reduce pain. If it is being used for an analgesic purpose, the amount of time one would ice would be significant less than what we’ve been told over the years. 5-7 minutes should suffice for pain relief. However, with any injury, you should always have it looked at by a professional before resuming higher level activities.
Historically, have you used ice to reduce inflammation?
Yours Truly,
Savannah Torrez, PT, DPT
“Invest in yourself”
