A growing body of evidence suggests that icing may not be the best approach for injury management. While it undoubtedly reduces pain, does it actually facilitate healing? Let’s take a look at what the research says:
Why Ice Delays Recovery
Dr. Mirkin on the drawbacks of icing
Further Reading on the Topic:
- De-Iced: The End of the Cold War
- Should athletes return to sport after applying ice? A systematic review
- Ice therapy in acute muscle tears: A pilot RCT
- Cooling an acute muscle injury: Bridging theory to clinical practice
- Ice and modern sports physiotherapy: Is it still cool?
- Influence of icing on muscle regeneration in rats
- Icing at early stages depresses skeletal muscle regeneration
- Icing delays recovery from eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage
- Icing reduces macrophage accumulation and TNF-α expression in early muscle regeneration
Take-Home Message
It’s time to rethink the “rest it and ice it” approach when dealing with injuries. This knee-jerk reaction may not be so cool after all. Next time you’re faced with an injury, don’t do RICE—do METH instead!
Read more about the new injury rehabilitation paradigm here.
