

Ice should be applied to an injured area within the first three days of the injury. The application of ice to an injured area causes several physiological actions to take place. At first, the brain feels cold. It sends signals to the area to constrict the blood vessels, vasoconstriction. However, after a few minutes, the brain realizes that if it continues to cause vasoconstriction, the affected tissues will be deprived of blood for too long and start to die. Therefore, the brain tells the blood vessels to open back up, vasodilation. After several minutes, the brain realizes that vasoconsticiton is what's ordered so it allows the blood vessels to constrict and stay that way. However, after about 20 minutes, the brain doesn't care what is ordered, if it continues to vasoconstrict, the tissues will die, therefore, it causes vasodilation. This will imitate heat, which is what you don't want.




Ice massage can provide a number of benefits, including:

  • Assisting the body in minimizing tissue damage
  • Mitigating muscle spasms
  • Reducing or eliminating pain by numbing sore soft tissues

