Heat vs Ice

Hi! Dr. Ezara Greene here, Physical Therapist, and I get this question all the time from. gymnasts, coaches and parents.

"Should I heat or ice for optimal recovery during injuries?"

Fun Fact: I actually do not have heat or ice in my solo private practice, as I feel my time and my patients time is better spent doing active movement and exercises. However, I do get this question a lot about things patients can do at home on their own time to make them feel better.

My Rule of thumb: If they feel like it does make a difference (patient preference is based on previous experiences and it does play a big role) I'm all for it. Although new evidence suggests neither does much in terms of tissue healing.

Ice is used for acute injuries. If you have a recent injury within the last 48 hours or so, you should most likely ice. The inflammatory process is totally normal, healthy, and needed to repair the damaged tissue. Sometimes the body will overreact to the injury and send more blood to the area than is needed causing more pain and swelling. This is when icing during this phase is so important. You will still have swelling, but it will be reduced, so your body can still heal the tissue and you can recover faster while reducing pain.

There are some Healthcare professionals out there that don't believe in ice at all. They believe it's disrupting the inflammatory process that's needed for the injury to heal, but more research is needed for this as protocol for acute injuries is still POLICE (protect, optimal loading, ice, compression, elevation).

What are your thoughts about ice treatments? Love to hear your thoughts on the topic! I tend to tell patients to heat for more chronic issues or after dry needling to help reduce muscle soreness to cause vasodilation and bring more blood flow to the area for healing.

Hot/Cold Pack (it does both!)