Ice Therapy for Acute Trauma

Ice is an extremely useful tool, and it is, in my mind, \r essential after acute trauma. Ice can slow bleeding in an \r area, decrease inflammation, reduce muscle guarding, and\r provide an analgesic effect (decrease pain).

If you injure an area, by events such as tearing a muscle \r due to overuse, or direct injury like spraining your ankle, \r you break little blood vessels in and around the area. \r Blood then flows into the area, transporting products and \r chemicals needed to help repair the injury. This extra \r blood and other products cause the characteristic redness, \r tenderness and inflammation associated with acute injury.

This inflammatory process is vital to proper tissue repair, \r but if too much blood enters the area, you can have severe \r pain and loss of use due to the pressure built up by \r inflammation, and excess scar tissue formation.

This is where ice comes into play! Ice helps in three major \r ways:

1. Vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels) - this \r slows bleeding into the area.

2. Decreased Metabolism - slows inflammation and scar tissue \r formation

3. Analgesia - blocks pain receptors from firing, so you \r don\'t feel as much pain.

It is crucial to apply ice within the first 36 hours \r following injury, otherwise the process I just described \r above will be well underway and you will be too late! You \r can continue to ice the area for up to 72 hours, depending \r whether swelling and pain persist.

A great way to apply ice is to freeze some water in a Dixie \r cup, and then massage the \"ice pop\" over the injured area. \r Applying ice for 10 to 15 minutes every 2 hours, combined \r with compression and elevation (if possible) will give great \r results. If this isn\'t possible, even a quick application \r is better than nothing.

If your injury is severe, you can apply ice more often. If \r your injury is relatively minor, or is an acute flare-up of \r a chronic condition, then you might be fine with just a \r couple of applications. You are the best judge of what your \r condition needs.

A few words of caution:

- do not fall asleep with any type of ice on you, as it \r could damage your skin or other tissues.
\r - use caution with gel ice packs, as they cool to below \r freezing. It is best to have a layer between your skin and \r a get pack - a thin damp tea towel is fine.
\r - be careful when icing over areas where nerves are close to \r the surface, such as the unlar nerve in the elbow (funny \r bone), and the peronial nerve on the outside of the knee.
\r - you should also be careful if you have a sensitivity to \r cold, poor circulation, or hypertension.

Denise Mackinnon is a registered massage therapist and health and wellness advocate. You can sign up for her free \"simple health ideas\" ezine by going to her website at http://www.denisemackinnon.com

Dealing With Mesothelioma Pain
Causes of Mesthelioma pain: The main cause of pain is due to the formation of malignant cells on the lining of the lung and abdomen. As the tumor pres...

Pain Relief From Lower Back Pain Requires Some Discipline
At some time in your life you will probably experience lower back pain. It is classified in the medical community as either acute (i.e. temporary flar...

Fatigue in Mesothelioma Patients
The word fatigue means the shortage or absence of energy that override the capability of mesothelioma patients to function and can result to mental di...

A New Tool to Manage Chronic Pain
Massage therapy isn't a luxury you can only find in spas anymore; it's rapidly becoming more medically oriented in today's society. Although massage h...

Acute Asthma Attack - Symptoms And Management
There have been many victims of acute asthma attack and the intensity of these attacks can be frightening. Asthma is a chronic disease that has many s...

Myofascial Release and Pain Relief
Myofascial Release is a therapy aimed at releasing restrictions in the fascia. Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds the muscles and muscle ...

Piriformis Syndrome and Massage Therapy
In my San Antonio, Texas based Massage Therapy and Bodywork practice I often treat pain from various syndromes including Piriformis Syndrome. Like man...

Drug Free Altnerative for Pain Relief - TENS Units
For many, living with acute and chronic pain is an everyday battle. Most people suffering from these types of pain have only been given the choice of...

Cardiac Asthma Treatment - Get The Facts Right
Cardiac asthma is wheezing due to congestive heart failure and in the true sense it is not asthma. Clinically it is a condition caused by severe refle...

Nerve Entrapment Syndromes And Massage Therapy
In my San Antonio, Texas based Massage Therapy and Bodywork practice I often treat men and women who are experiencing pain from various nerve entrapme...

Fibromyalgia - The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is sometimes categorized as primary or secondary. In primary fibromyalgia, also known as idiopathic fibromyalgia, the causes are not know...

New Mesothelioma Treatment
Several new mesothelioma treatments are being developed. Researches mostly revolve around developing new treatments or improving upon the traditional ...

How to Relieve Neck Pain With Air Neck Traction
Are you suffering from neck and shoulder pain? You are not alone. Millions of people are suffering from neck pain due to bad posture, car accident ...

Medical Pain Control
About a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with a heart related problem. The doctors tested, poked and prodded and put me on tread mills, all kinds o...

Fibromyalgia Pain Management
Nobody enjoys pain.I read once, where someone said that those that suffer from Fibromyalgia simply must "accept the fact that they will arise each mor...

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 7:51 am and is filed under Pain Management Doctors . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.