A kingston University study showed that ice massage had no significance impact on exercise-induced muscle damage or recovery after a hard workout. Immediatley after a strength workout 12 men recieved an ice massage repeated 24 hours later and 48 hours later. After another similar session, they recieved a placebo of false ultrasound. Researchers measured the amount of creatine-kinase (CK)- an indicator of muscle damage- in the athlectics' blood and discovered that ice massage did not significantly reduce CK levels in 96 hours of workout. One of these options which do have sound scientific evidence to back them up. Take regular doses of anti-oxidants, such as vitamin C (from kiwi fruit or blackcurrant) and E (from almonds hazlenuts or avocado), before a tough workout to minimise damaged caused by the free radicals created when you exercise. -I have used ice on many injurys and found it to beneficial with pain reliefs. I believe it to reduce swelling and aid recovery and have experienced this myself with my onw injurys, which have been compression injurys, tension and shear injurys. Phases of Soft tissue wound healing Inflamation (0-6 days): Vascoconstriction promotes increased blodd viscosity (thickness), reducing blood loss through bleeding. The platelet reaction initiates clotting and releases growth factors that attract reparative cells to the site. Coagulation of the clot is formed. Vasodilation and increased blood vessel well permeability facilitate the migration of neutrophils and macrophages in plasma exudate to cleanse the site through phagocytosis. Proliferation (3-21 days): Fibroblasts produce a supportive network of collagen. The platelet response and the hypoxic wound enviroment stimulate angiogenesis. Epithelial cells migrate from the periphery toward the center of the wound to enact re-epithelialization. Maturation (up to 1+years): Fibroblast activity decreases, and habitual loading produces increased organization of the extracellular matrix. A return to normal histrochemical activity allows for reduced vascularity and water content. The collagen fibers continue to proliferate, replacing immature collagen precursors and resulting in contracture of the wound. Scar tissue formation results in decreased size and flexibilityof the ionvolved tissues. Remodeling causes collagen fiber alignment along lines of habitual stress, with tensile strengh increasing for up to 2 years post-injury.
"Ice is for dead people" The *only* benefit ice offers is a reduction in pain and inflammation, but as a consequence of the cooling effects of ice, it also contracts and hardens vessels and tissues which all but halts the healing process and makes it much more difficult to disperse blood and fluids later, and increases the chances that the area will not heal properly or become chronic.
Plumdragon, I'm not sure where you're going with the recovery issue but using ice is one of the primary ways of dealing with a lot of tissue damage and works well.
Re-read Plums post. Believe it or not, ice (cold) constricts blood vessels. This is not conducive to healing. How is this a primary way? Ice is a secondary measure in an attempt to 1. Slow inflammation by contricting the blood vessels in an ACUTE stage of trauma. 2. By minimizing the pain sensation. (Cold temporary can reduce pain by its effects on the nerves). I dont know why people would apply ice after a work out. That is really beyond me. Have an injury, apply ice by all means as a temporary control. Work out your muscles? I am applying heat. I want my muscles to have an excellent exchange of fresh oxygenated blood and fresh blood to re-energize my muscle and take all that bad stuff away. Why would i apply ice to constrict blood vessels?
