Many athletes or individuals who regularly exercise get confused on whether it is better to heat or ice before or after activity. Acute injuries such as a sprained ankle that has inflammation and swelling needs ice not heat. Applying heat to an acute or sudden injury will increase the temperature of the skin causing the swelling to worsen. Ice should be used to decrease the swelling due to the fact that it constricts the vessels. This causes the blood flow to slow down and internal bleeding to decrease in the area. This should be done a couple times a day when symptoms are present.
Chronic injuries should not be iced before activity. A chronic injury is an ongoing pain or ache due to muscle or joint soreness that happens over a period of time, usually from overuse. This is very common for volleyball athletes since certain positions on the court require repetitive practice throughout the season for mastery of the skill. This is true, especially for hitters, to have chronic injuries in the shoulder (rotator cuff), back, and knees. This is where heating before activity is highly recommended. It increases blood flow and allows the joint or muscle area to be more flexible by relaxing spasms or knots. Icing is recommended after activity for chronic injuries whereas heating is not.
This is a really interesting blog. My mom had pulled something in her neck carrying firewood last winter and she tried both icing and heat for a while because she didnt know which one would help. It ended up being thoracic outlet syndrome and a slipped disc, so the heat definately helped her more when the area felt really tight.
ReplyDeleteI use both heat and ice, so this is a good post to talk about! I had hurt myself this soccer season and heated up my hamstring before practice so that it coudl be stretched out, then iced after practice and it worked very well. I agree on the fact that icing when swelling occurs is the best option to reduce swelling as much as possible. It works 100% of the time!
ReplyDeleteVery nice blog. Many athletes or just ordinary people still do not know when to heat or when to ice an injury. I agree with Melissa that ice does help with swelling.
ReplyDeletethis is a good blog to put up because it brings people back to the basics that may be forgotten throughout te years. Especially as an athlete, i find myself on some post game nights iceing and heating injuries but it gets confusing as o what should be done. so good idea for a blog.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matt, sometimes deciding whether you should heat or ice becomes confusing. This is a good post reminding people when is a good idea to ice and when to heat. Sometimes I find myself wanting to heat an injury I know I should ice just because it makes me feel better right away, but only for a short period of time. In the long run it is more important to ice, especially after activity because it decreases the swelling, like you mentioned Steph. Sometimes for optimum results, it is a good idea to alternate between heat and ice, one after the other.
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