What does ice do for injuries?

[CaliG]

When your hand is swollen what does putting it in ice do?

Does it stop the swelling to speed up the healing process or does it have some other function?

Thanks,

G

[I am...]

I can't speak on all that it does or doesn't do, much is context dependent.

Generally, if it just got injured and is likely to swell, ice will help to prevent some swelling/inflammation. If it is already swollen, I prefer not to use ice, but the general formula in the west as of now is:

R est
I ce
C ompression
E levation

I hope that helps.

[cerebus]

It causes the muscles, tendons and blood vessels to contract, thereby reducing bloodflow to the area bringing down swelling. However, though it feels good on ouchy areas and brings down the immediate swelling, it also causes fluids which have escaped ruptured vessels (basically the stuff causing the swelling) to congeal and solidify, often leading to problems later in life.

Read "A Tooth From the Tiger's Mouth" by Tom Bisio. His instructor Hsu Hong Ji used to say "Ice is for dead people".

[DeusTrismegistus]

From what I have read on inflammation it is the first step to healing the affected area and anything that stops the inflammatory response will only cause it to heal slower or not at all. Given that I would only use ICE if the swelling was so severe I was worried about other problems.

[Josealb]

What i understand (have never read about it in detail though) is that cold slows the process, but helps the pain and diminishes the swelling. Ive tried warm water on bruises, and they go away much faster.

[somatai]

it is the nature of cold to slow,still and bind

[Fubo]

I was told that ice helps with hematoma (build up of blood outside the blood vessels), and that you should on use ice right when the injury occurs and not hours later or the next day etc... heat treatment should be replaced after that.

[dragontigerpalm]

The only time I ever use ice for swelling is on the fortunately rare occurence when I get a bump on my head which is usually from stupidly raising up into an open kitchen cabinet door. For all other bruises, bumps, lumps and swellings I use and have had great success (meaning very rapid recovery) with jows.

[Chris McKinley]

Placing ice on an injury causes local constriction of blood vessels and tissues. Done quickly following an injury, this inhibits the buildup of histamine and prostaglandins local to the injury, thus reducing swelling. If these are allowed to collect in and around the injury site, blood flow to the area can be reduced for several days to weeks, thus slowing the overall healing process. Keeping blood pressure low in the local area also reduces the leakage of intracellular fluid from damaged tissues into the surrounding area. As to these fluids congealing....yes, cold causes all bodily fluids to increase viscosity, though they do not become solid unless the surrounding area becomes frozen. With the return of heat to the local area, viscosity decreases and local blood flow is returned to normal, allowing the body's immune system to remove remaining metabolites and residue due to the injury.

One of the purposes of inflammation is to reduce mobility and increase stabilization of the injured area in order to minimize further injury. If the injury site has been immobilized by other means, inflammation is no longer necessary and should be reduced if possible to allow normal blood flow to the area to heal the injury as soon as possible.

[CaliG]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I was rolling around yesterday and my fingers got caught in between mats, it hurt so bad that I thought my fingers were going to break. I stopped for a minute and since there wasn't any permanent damage I just kept rolling with my hand closed.

Then this morning my hand looked like a tomato. I didn't want to ice it because I'm some what sold on MEAT, movement, exercise, analgesics and treatment. But I stuck my hand in a bowl of ice a couple of times so it wouldn't get any bigger, besides I know that's what a doc would have me do. It helped, but I have to wonder if it's good for you.

The pain seemed to have gone away but later on my kid was eating a banana but she wasn't pulling back the peel. I tried to grab it from her, since I was driving and she grabbed a finger from the bad hand and twisted it and put me in a very painful finger lock. I pulled my hand back quickly and she just laughed. Not bad for 1 and half year old.

So what kind of things do you do when you have swelling?

[Chris McKinley]

Movement of a very recently-injured joint is counterproductive, to put it mildly. Stabilization of the injury in necessary, whether with or without inflammation, to prevent further injury. Allowing your hand to swell up like that won't do anything to promote healing other than to stabilize the injury area, and will actually postpone the healing process for as long as that swelling is present.

[CaliG]

I've had broken/fractured bones before without feeling any pain.

At point should I see a doctor. My wife thinks I broke something but I don't feel any pain.

[Chris McKinley]

If your hand is all swollen up like you're describing, I'd see a doctor immediately. It could be a break/fracture and/or soft tissue injury, but I wouldn't take chances with my fingers. Go find out; that way, you can stop guessing and get right to what's necessary.

[I am...]

If your hand is all swollen up like you're describing, I'd see a doctor immediately. It could be a break/fracture and/or soft tissue injury, but I wouldn't take chances with my fingers. Go find out; that way, you can stop guessing and get right to what's necessary.

+1, whatever's done is done, time to get some intel so that you can make informed decisions on it going forward.

[Chris Fleming]

What does ice do? Injures you more.