Ice or Heat?

The use of RICE method (rest, ice, compress, elevate) has been in use since 1978 publication of “Sports Medicine Book” by Dr. Gabe Mirkin. It took off like wildfire and ever since then we have been grabbing ice for any injury. What a lot of people (including medical practitioners) have not caught up with is that Dr. Gabe Mirkin recanted his position in 2015, saying that RICE method, is not the best method when it comes to healing. Ice, in fact, delays the healing process. Applying ice to an injured tissue causes vasoconstriction (narrows local blood vessels). That means that there will be reduced blood flow into the injured tissue. Reduced blood flow means delayed healing process. Blood and oxygen is what heals. Applying ice will make you feel better short term because the swelling and inflammation will be reduced, but the blood flow will be reduced as well, which will delay the healing process. Applying heat to the area, will attract more blood, which will result in faster healing. The only time anyone should ever use ice is if one has a head injury, in which case, we would want to decrease swelling. Another is if you are an athlete who needs to finish the game, in that case apply ice, finish the game and then get that heat pack on so you can finally heal!

https://thesportjournal.org/article/the-r-i-c-e-protocol-is-a-myth-a-review-and-recommendations/