When Should I Ice?

Ice packs are among the most commonly used item in any rehab facility. The rule of thumb with cold is if an area is red, swollen, inflamed, or if an injury just occurred, we want to cool the area down and prevent any inflammation.

How do you know if something is going to swell up or be inflamed later? How do you know if you didn't just over-did-it, and you're going to feel it later?

Why just limit the use of ice after an injury. It's also good to slap a bag of ice over the knees (or whichever part of the body) after a solid game of basketball, volleyball, soccer, a 5 mile run... or after whatever you do that places a lot of pressure to the body

Ice it down.

You can't really hurt yourself by icing properly. The classic routine is to ice for 15-20 minutes. I prefer the C.B.A.N. principle. It's what you're suppose to feel when you ice: First cold (C), than burns (B) because the ice starts to "bite"; next is ache (A) &; lastly, numbed (N). Once it gets numbed, stop icing.

C = Cold
B = Burn
A = Ache
N = Numbed

And whenever you question whether you should ice or heat, I'd say ice. You can't do as much damage with ice than you can with heat. Heat will undoubtedly make you "feel" better. You would just feel the heat seeping thru your muscles & joints... feeling all warm & fuzzy. But if something is slightly irritated & mildly inflamed, the moment you add heat to the body, it's like adding gas to a fire, instant BOOM ~ blood rushes in and triggers the inflammation process. Worst part is that you won't feel any of the inflammation effects immediately (because it's all warm & fuzzy).

On the other hand, ice will cool things down ~ especially if you jacked up the body during a workout. Why not reset things with a pack of ice. This is the preventative approach.

You know it's going to hurt tomorrow. Why wait till it hurts then ice... do it as soon as you're done with your thing... even if it doesn't hurt. It's just 10-15 minutes... don't be a cry baby about it, you're still going to take a shower to clean yourself up... you'll warm up under the hot shower.

Lesson from the pros: Lots of professional athletes use ice after a practice or a game. For example, I'll see the DC United players waiting to get into the ice bath after games and practices. I'm pretty sure they're not eager to dive into the frozen tundra . One player describes it as "excruciatingly good". Each one of them has a towel draped over their shoulders, arms wrapped tight around themselves & simply tolerate the fact that the lower half of their body is in icy water..... just thinking about it makes me go burrrrrrrr. No one is holding their heads down under water or standing there with a whip... they just know if they don't get into the ice bath, they'll pay the practice the following day.

Photo: Kobe Bryant icing his knee down after a practice.

Ice Bath Recipe for the legs:

• Put 1/2 a bag of ice in the bath tub or garbage can (3o gal.) Position the rest of the ice within reach.
  
• Sit in the tub or stand in the garbage can.
• Fill the tub or pail with cold water and let it cover your legs gradually.
• After you've filled the tub, grab the rest of the ice and pour it in. The temperature will drop significantly. (It's no fun, but by this point the worst is already over)
• Soak for about 10 minutes or until the legs are numbed.