The move to grab some ice after someone hurts themselves while playing sport or exercising may need to change after new research shows icing injuries doesn’t help.
Melanie Bussey, an associate professor in clinical biomechanics at Otago University, said research done over 50 years hasn’t found clear evidence of the benefits of icing.
The new animal study out of Japan found that icing altered the molecular environment inside injured muscles in ways that slowed healing.
Ice became a common treatment method through research in the 1970s that showed it slowed down swelling and waste products and the negative effects of the injury.
“It’s just became lore: rest, ice, compress, elevate,” Bussey said.
Bussey said the swelling is a natural way the body heals.
“Inflammation is a natural body process. The body doesn’t do many natural things that are harmful to us,” Bussey said.
She agreed that it could be time for a change to the RICE acronym.
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