Cryotherapy

We all know that sports stars take ice baths and I am often asked why they do it, and do I need to do it after I run.  So today I am going to answer that question.

Cryotherapy is one of long accepted tools of a sports masseur.  If you have ever watched a football match on telly, you will have seen someone fall to the ground and the coach run on with a bucket of water and the magic sponge and the player then hopefully gets up and hobbles around before taking an active part in the game.  So the magic sponge, (the application of cold water to an injured area) is Cyrotherapy in its most basic form.  The local application of ice or cold water is beneficial because

  • It relieves pain
  • Reduces muscle spams (i.e. athletes take ice baths to avoid feeling stiff the next day)
  • When someone is injured it moderates inflammation

Probably equally important to all those benefits is that the treatment is very convenient, inexpensive and effective.

So to go back to the questions should I have an ice bath after training.

If you have injured yourself during training you should definitely follow the RICE (Rest Ice Compression and Elevation) protocol

  • Rest – by which I mean avoid weight bearing activities and anything that causes pain for 24 – 48 hours.
  • Ice – Use either cold water or ice wrapped in a tea towel and apply for 2 – 20 minutes for 2-3 days then 3 times daily.    When applying ice you go through the cold, aching, burning and numbness sensation cycle, it is very important to stop at numbness to avoid burning yourself.
  • Compression  – use a compression bandage if necessary
  • Elevation – if the injury is to a limb, elevate it to help it heal.

The only exception to using Ice for injuries is for people with a peripheral vascular disease e.g. diabetes, anyone who is hypersensitive or has a physiological aversion to cold if you are frail or if you have varicose veins in the injured area or  the injury is a broken bone.

However, what if you haven’t injured yourself, should you have an ice bath after training.    Taking an ice bath or sometimes a cold-water immersion is certainly now more popular amongst athletes than ever before.   The key reason is that as it reduces muscle tightness and soreness and it allows athletes to recover more quickly after intense training.   The big draw back is that is uncomfortable and not really scientifically proven.  My recommendation would be only to do it if you are training really intensively and you are not contraindicated (see above exceptions to using ice) and want to, as ice baths are optional.  For me the most important thing to prevent injury and allow you to recover quickly is a well designed training plan where you build up the intensity of the exercise slowly, with adequate warm up routine and a cool down routine and stretching.

Remember if you do get injured or have tight muscles after training, a good masseur will be able to sort these out.

 

 

Related Posts

  • So massage is safe for pregnant women, but is it effective?

    Last week we established that massage is safe for pregnant women.  A scientific review of studies of pregnancy in massage fond that pregnant women who received massage had

    • decreased depression
    • decreased anxiety
    • decreased leg and back pain
    In addition pregnant women who received massage had reduced
    • reduced cortisol levels
    • reduced excessive fetal activity
    • lower rate of prematurity (a baby being born before its 37 weeks old)
    For pregnant women who received massage during labour they
    • experienced less pain
    • required less medication
    • had shorter labours (on average 3 hours shorter)
    The study concluded massage is effective for pregnant women. Reference Field T. Pregnancy and labor massage. Expert review of obstetrics & gynecology. 2010;5(2):177-181. doi:10.1586/eog.10.12.

  • What are postural muscles?

    Postural muscles are also referred to as core stability muscles, are found deep in the body. The first muscles that typically come to mind with posture are the muscles along the spine. The erector spinae muscles run along the bones of your spine, the vertebrae, from your neck all the way to your tailbone. These muscles hold the spine in extension or upright, counteracting the pull of gravity. Abdominal muscles support the structures at the front of your trunk, balancing the pull of your back extensors. The quadratus luborum muscles at the top of your pelvis help stabilize the pelvis and spine in the lower back in an upright position. The purpose of postural muscles is to keep good posture in the field of gravity. These muscles consist mostly of slow-twitch muscle fibres and have a greater capacity for prolonged use but are prone to over working. This means if you have poor posture or you have long periods of sitting immobile your postural muscles get tired and they become weak and less efficient. The longer the situation continues the more likely you are to develop postural imbalances and they finally you get knots and pain!

  • The Impact of Sitting All Day – Part 7

    There is a wide range of American start up companies, creating technology solutions to combat the new "sitting disease".  In previous posts I have discussed in the impact of sitting all day

    In my post, "Taking a Break", I explored the reasons for taking a break and looked at the latest research on the length of break you need to take and the frequency.  In my last blog post, "Get Moving" I looked at how you can move while working.  In this post I want to review the technology solutions that are out there. Activity Trackers Most of the technology solutions currently available are wearable activity trackers. These products are basically advanced sensors that come embedded inside of bracelets or clips that hook onto your clothing. They measure your daily activity (steps taken and calories burned), sleep, and through an associated app, diet.  Below I list some of the common trackers.
    • 1. Apple Watch
    Everyone knows that Apple is about to launch the Apple Watch which will have a plethora of health and fitness functionalities. However the Apple Watch heavily relies on the iPhone to function and is not really considered a standalone device. But I want to focus on one interesting feature which is that ten minutes before each hour, the Apple Watch taps on their arms as an alert to ecourage you to stay active or just simply stand up. I can see this being essential for people who want to stay active but find they lose track of time when they work.
    • 2. Jawbone UP
    The company’s wearable activity tracker, Jawbone UP includes a step counter, sleep tracker and an idle alert, which offers reminders to users by buzzing if they are inactive. What is neat about Jawbone is that it links to your calendar from your iPhone and see what your schedule is with meetings and we can say — rather than buzzing you during the middle of your board meeting — we can actually wait until the end and give you some insight.
    • 3. Nike+ Fuelband
    What is good about the Nike+ Fuelband activity tracker is that lets you set an activity goal, you can press a button on an LED screen to check your progress, and displays a green light when you have achieved your goal.  However it can be inaccurate if for some reason you happen to move your hands swiftly throughout the day.
    • 4. Fitbit One
    Fitbit One is the best holistic tracking of activity, diet and sleep and is good value compared to some of the other activity trackers. The app creates graphs, charts and tools based on your data and lets you easily log food, water, weight, food plans and more.  It is especially good for women as you can clip it in the center of your bra, rather than trying to blend in a wrist based activity tracker with your outfit. Applications “I'll help you unclog your mind and uncramp your body”, is the promise of HotSeat health app that turns short breaks into meaningful activity through nudges and social accountability.  What I like about this application is that it allows you to create competition - which are always very motivational! Darma - The Hitech Cushion Digital health upstart Darma have developed a cushion that aims to help people take control of their sitting habits.  It helps you remember to maintain good posture when sitting down for long periods of time. The cushion contains one millimeter-thick fiber optic sensors that sense the user’s movements. The pillow also has embedded sensors that detect heart rate, stress level, and respiration. All of this information is sent to a companion app on the user’s smartphone. The app can then track a user’s stress level, sitting time, and posture and try to motivate users to get up every now and then. It will also alert users when they’ve slipped into a bad position and explain how to correct their posture. If users are feeling back pain, the app can guide them through stretches that might help relieve it.  To me this more directly provides relevant information to help my clients than some of the more wearable technology solutions.  I am looking forward to its launch later this year, until then there is always massage!