Hurt? Don't Ice - Do This Instead
If you’ve ever iced your freshly sprained ankle, it’s okay. I won’t hold it against you. You didn‘t know any better.
I’m here to make sure you don’t ice your next injury.
Ice can work for decreasing pain in the short term, but it’s slowing down your recovery. Let me explain:
Ice causes vasoconstriction. Which means your blood vessels clamp down and narrow both during and following ice application.
This prevents proper blood flow to the area and that should decrease swelling and inflammation. Sounds great, right? Quite the opposite actually.
When you sprain your ankle or strain your shoulder there is tissue damage. If there was a hole in your roof, you can’t fix the hole until you get new shingles and supplies up to the area. Until the supplies arrive, the hole will remain.
Your body wants the supplies to get there. It’s seeking what it needs. In order to assist in the delivery, injured tissues release something called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins dilate the blood vessels to help bring the necessary supplies to the area. This is what causes the swelling and redness.
Whether it’s a scratch, surgical site or sore throat, your immune cells (neutrophils and monocytes) arrive to fight off potential bacterial or viral infections. Cytokines are present to help guide these immune cells to the injured area so they can work effectively.
But remember, the pieces of the roof that were damaged are still up there. You wont be able to properly place the new materials until the damaged pieces are removed. Similarly the damaged cells and tissues need to be removed to make room for fresh, healthy cells.
Cells called macrophages come in and do the clean up job to make room for the new tissues. The redness and swelling that you experience after an injury are actually signs that your body is getting the necessary supplies to the area. Sure, this extra blood flow is uncomfortable and can exacerbate your pain temporarily, but it’s needed.
Using ice results in the constriction of the vessels that carry the necessary supplies. Sure the ice can help with pain due to “pain gaiting” locally. But that decrease in pain has nothing to do with proper tissue healing.
Until you get the necessary supplies to the injured site, you can’t move forward with the healing process. So what should you do instead?
1) Protect the injured area.
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