To ice, or use heat on that injury???
It’s often misunderstood, and often mis-prescribed, should you use heat or cold on injuries?
The evidence / guidance has changed in the intervening years since the Rest Ice Compression Elevation was first brought to the Rehabilitation world in 1978 by Dr Mirkin (Little Brown and Co., page 94)
Whilst there is still some evidence supporting the use of cold in acute injuries (up to a maximum of 6 hours after the initial event) as a mainly pain reducing endeavour, gentle heat is where it’s at.
The body itself generates heat (inflammation) in the area of injury, dilating and flooding the area with blood, which in turn varies all the elements needed as part of the healing process(1), to counteract this by using cold, shutting down the local blood vessels, (or any other method (2) which reduces inflammation) surely is counter intuitive, as it delays healing 🤔👨🏻🎓
If in doubt, gentle heat, and allow the body to do what it needs to do 👍🏻
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(1) Journal of American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, Vol 7, No 5, 1999
(2) Pharmaceuticals, 2010;3(5)