How & When To Use Ice

Ice is a great treatment for most type of sports injuries.  If used correctly it can really help to reduce swelling, pain relief and help to restore motion.

The easiest way to use ice is to get a zip long bag and fill it with ice.  The put it on the affected area…pretty easy.

Now here’s the trick…in 20 minutes get the ice off.  After 20 minutes there is evidence that after this time period the ice can begin to mimick heat.  Why is this bad?  Well when you injure an area the typical responce by the body is to flood the area with swelling.

The key is to remove as much of the swelling as quick as possible.  Swelling brings in fibrotic (scar) tissue to this injured area and the quicker that you can reduce the swelling the less scar tissue will form.

So for sprains, strains….ice.  20 minutes on and then wait about an hour before you can reapply the ice again.

If you follow this protocol you can continue to use the ice for as long as you feel that this method is helping.