Total Ice Therapy - The Power of Ice

The best method to treat any sports injury is ICE. It is safe and effective. When applied, the athlete goes through the 4 phases of icing: cold, burning, and numbness. These are all perfectly normal.

Cold therapy, also known as cryo-therapy, is most effective in the early or acute stage of inflammation. It works on the principle of heat exchange whereby the cooler object will absorb the heat from the warmer one, that being your body.

After an injury, surrounding blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients and take away waste products are damaged. Everything slows down and now blood and other fluids seep into the space around muscles, causing swelling, bruising, and inflammation. Applying ice lowers temperature of the damaged area; constricts or makes blood vessels smaller, thus reducing tissue damage; and slows down nerve impulses.

When it comes to cooling devices, real ice does a better job than chemical or gel packs because it is able to draw 4 times the amount of heat out of tissue, since it lasts longer at an even temperature. Most chemical or 1-time-use packs quickly lose their ability to transfer heat and thus their effectiveness to reduce swelling.

Cold therapy should always be used as soon as possible after an injury occurs and at 15-20 minute intervals with a minimum of 1 hour off in-between. In order to maintain the results of the treatment it also should be used any time there is a flare-up.

REMEMBER: IF YOU HURT YOURSELF...YOU NEED TO ICE.