Should ice always be your go to measure for injuries?
Despite what you might hear from anti-ice gurus that tend to be sensationalized on the internet, ice isn’t the bad guy.
Yes, we tend to apply ice in some situations that probably doesn’t help and claim we do so for the wrong reasons, but the bottom line is that there are several benefits to ice.
It is important to understand what ice does to your body before you use it to treat an injury. It can help reduce:
Inflammation/swelling
Blood flow/bruising
Muscle spasms
Pain
When you get injured, it’s natural for the site of the injury to become inflamed. Inflammation, swelling of the tissue and blood vessels, is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a natural part of healing and allows immune cells to better access the injured area. Though inflammation can be positive, to an extent, it can also cause debilitating swelling and pain. Ice reduces this swelling and inflammation.
What injuries do we treat with ice 🧐
Acute injuries: injuries that affect a specific area on the body like an ankle sprain, which will cause swelling and bruising, but shouldn’t directly affect other parts of your body
Recent injuries: swelling tends to be the most extreme when you first become injured, especially within the first 48 hours
Overuse injuries: icing chronic inflammation in specific areas, such as a joint or muscle, from overuse, should only be applied after and never before activity
Sometimes, an injury is unmistakable. You may feel your muscle tear, hear a pop in a joint or feel a sharp pain that indicates you’ve hurt yourself. When this happens, it’s usually smart to start icing right away. Even if you can’t pinpoint the moment of injury, if you just engaged in physical activity and now a specific area on your body is throbbing, you should operate under the assumption that you injured yourself and start icing the painful area.
Ice is not wrong or harmful and has plenty of benefits and clinical validation. More than anything, ice is a convenient and potent pain reliever, so it’s ok to apply ice to ‘chronic’ conditions as a safer pain reliever at any time.
Jamie Deloyer
Registered Physiotherapist