Should You Ice An Injury?

Many of us are familiar with the acronym RICE--rest, ice, compression, elevation--basically, the gold standard for at home treatment of an injury. Tweak your back pulling weeds in the yard? RICE. Do something to your knee in the gym? RICE.

Where did RICE come from?

In 1978, Dr. Gabe Mirkin coined this acronym in his well known book, Sportsmedicine, but since then, he has retracted his infamous advice, based on the results of over 20 studies, published in peer-reviewed journals, that show almost no benefit to using ice and compression over only using compression.

The reason is that inflammation is a natural response to injury, and by applying ice--or anything else that reduces inflammation, like cortisone injections, NSAIDS, or immune suppressants--we are actually SLOWING recovery.

For pain reduction, immediately following an injury, Mirkin recommends applying ice for 10 min and removing it for 20 min and suggests repeating once or twice. If it has been longer than six hours since the injury, he says there is no reason to apply ice. So, ice for chronic or longstanding pain? Not a good idea.

If you want more detail, check it out here.

So what does Chinese medicine say about using ice for injuries?

The same thing this "new" research found.

Just as cold from ice packs will reduce or slow swelling, it also slows the flow of qi, which slows the flow of blood, creating stagnation. This backed up energy creates heat, just as a stalled car will overheat, and heat created from stagnation will create other problems.

Just as clinical studies found that the use of ice and other anti-inflammatories delayed recovery and reduced performance,

Classical Chinese medicine believes this to be true, as well, which is not to say that the pain or injury cannot be successfully treated. It can but will often take more treatments than if ice was not used.

Also important to mention is that if you have pain that wasn't caused by a recent injury, this is likely a different kind of problem and can be addressed through a type of acupuncture called Secondary Vessels or the Complement Channels. This is the type of acupuncture I practice and is extremely effective at treating long standing pain and chronic illness.

The next time you find yourself injured, try avoiding ice or anti-inflammatories.

Instead, first try rest, compression, and non-weight bearing movement, and then call your acupuncturist.

She can more specifically evaluate and treat you to reduce pain, improve range of motion, and help your body recover faster.