Icing is bad?
- Thread starter jess818
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Very interesting, thanks for the video! I am going to purchase the book as well. Brings me back to my outpatient clinical days where we iced everyone at the end of their session. Interested in if we had used some sort of e-stim if we would have had better results.
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No problem! I will be starting my spring semester in my DPT program next week so I probably wouldn't have the time to read this book. However, I would be interested to hear both of your thoughts after reading it.
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This makes perfect sense. Allowing the body to do its job. However, I had a thought as I was watching and that maybe we've used ice the wrong way. I mean rather than as the video mentions making the tissue go numb by using ice (leaving ice on for like 20-30 minutes) and slowing down the inflammation response, we only leave ice on for like 5 minutes to help the muscles "shiver" and then allow the surrounding tissues to bring warm fluids to the site (helping to get rid of the inflammation) then repeat. Along with using compression. Since most of us aren't going to have an e-stim lying around at home to help, maybe this would work. Next time I get injured, I'm going to test.
What are your thoughts?
What are your thoughts?
There's been a discussion on this before if anyone feels like searching for the thread. Modalities all depend on your stage of healing. In my opinion, ice should only be used (if at all) to decrease pain and/or decrease acute swelling if it is potentially harmful to the tissues surrounding it. Heat should not be used on an acute injury and there really is no point in using ice in the chronic stage of healing unless it relieves pain. It shouldn't be used for more than 10-15 minutes typically (4 stages of cooling, once you get to the numbness aka 4th stage then it should be taken off). Otherwise you get the Hunting response causing vasodilation and the adverse effect.
Pgaspartan, I'm not sure a localized ice application would make the muscles shiver. Compression is an excellent idea though, along with elevation and movement to decrease swelling.
Jess818, I know what you're talking about with clinics always icing after treatments. I don't believe it is necessary for every patient to be doing that. I think a lot of clinics do it because it is almost like a 'standard practice' and it's just another thing they can do to make patients feel like they had a complete treatment. It's also another thing they can bill insurance for. In regards to other modalities, it all depends on what type of injury they have, what stage of healing, etc. to determine whether it could be effective or not.
Pgaspartan, I'm not sure a localized ice application would make the muscles shiver. Compression is an excellent idea though, along with elevation and movement to decrease swelling.
Jess818, I know what you're talking about with clinics always icing after treatments. I don't believe it is necessary for every patient to be doing that. I think a lot of clinics do it because it is almost like a 'standard practice' and it's just another thing they can do to make patients feel like they had a complete treatment. It's also another thing they can bill insurance for. In regards to other modalities, it all depends on what type of injury they have, what stage of healing, etc. to determine whether it could be effective or not.
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