If you are active and in shape, it is a good probability that at some time in your life you will be injured too, but hopefully you were doing some fun when it happened!
How to treat those not too serious injuries for maximum healing can be a bit confusing to some as many people with varying degrees of knowledge will tell you many different things.
Luckily, the answer is summed up nicely in this short but informative article from Runner's Magazine. Here it is . .
Although there appears to be a controversy about heat vs. ice, there really isn't. Most who treat athletes on a regular basis agree that from the first day through the first 24 hours, ice is the treatment of choice. Heat tends to further injure friable blood vessel walls thereby promoting leaking of fluid and increasing swelling. Ice, on the other hand, also vasodilates and does not injure the vessel wall, and, in fact, helps its integrity. Ice is truly a great vasodilator. Although initially vasoconstricting in the first few minutes, it then promotes vasodilation, as evidenced by the red area on the skin after icing.
After 24 hours we want to continue vasodilation to bring in blood flow with nutrients and cells to promote healing. The vessel wall has regained its integrity and both ice and heat work: after a 20 minute treatment, both result in an area that looks red due to increased blood flow. Which should you use then? I prefer ice because it temporarily deactivates receptors in the vessel walls, thereby keeping the vessels open for an additional 45 minutes following a twenty minute treatment. When heat is applied, as soon as the heat comes off, the vessel area begins to cool the receptors and the vessel walls are reactivated to normal blood flow. Therefore, ice gives you a longer treatment for a 20 minute application. Contrary to grandma's old advise of doing contrast ice then heat, etc., ice works better, 3 times a day for 30 minutes. The contrast baths only had you doing more treatment. And more treatment is always good to a point. You can ice up to six 20 minute treatments a day for the most effect.
Be careful of burning the skin with either treatment. My favorite way to ice is with a zip lock bag filled with ice and water. The water raises the temperature to 32 degrees so no need for a cloth between the ice and the skin and no freezer burn to the skin. I have also found using a bag of frozen peas useful but just as those frozen chemical packs, they can get too cold so be careful about having a cloth between your skin and the pack.
Enjoy the ride.
Runners Magazine Online Sept 8, 2009 Dr. Lewis G. Maharam
I find this article interesting. My daughter injured her knee while training for tennis and the e.m.t. that treated her suggested alternating 20 min. of ice with 20 min. of heat. It is hard to always know which method is good unless you are trained. I took the e.m.t.'s advice and we used both, but in the future I will stick to just ice. I also enjoy the book options you have provided.
ReplyDeleteAs a Human Performance major and a runner, I completely agree with this article because of personal experience. My preference of ice or heat is also ice because of the fact that when you ice it promote vasodilation of the blood vessels to the injury and I find that the injury heals quicker than heat application.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this blog, it was very helpful! I recently hurt my knee running, and I went to yoga today; it didn't help one bit! I was barely doing the poses correctly. My instructor suggested I elevate it although I think I will ice it now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip!
Very interesting. I've only ever heard of using the R.I.C.E. technique for healing injuries, never heat. But it does make more sense to just use ice instead of alternating. I also find it easier to stand cold that hot for longer periods of time as well.
ReplyDelete