Ice, Ice Baby!!!

     Good morning, Fam...  Well, I am back on the road again.  Yes, I am still having some mild pain in my back, but nothing that I can't deal with.  I completed the Biggest Loser Challenge.  No, I was not a FIRST place winner of pounds and inches lost, but I AM still a winner in the fact that I lost 9.9 pounds and around 5 inches.  I am READY to do it again.  I KNOW my results would have been better, but I had one week that my employment schedule interfered and I lost almost 2 weeks with my injured back situation.  In any case, I am so proud of my Biggest Loser Family because everyone lost pounds and inches and EVERYONE is ready to do the challenge again!

     I just want to, once again, remind everyone, if you have an injury, please get it checked out.  Although you may think you can suffer through the pain, you should make sure that you have not injured yourself beyond repair.  I did have an x-ray done and a test to make sure I didn't bust up a kidney.  All appeared to be in order, but I did develop a pretty nasty looking bruise and my movements were restricted by pain for well over 10 days. 

     The one thing I did do on a pretty regular basis to make my back feel better was to apply ice.  Yes, ice, ice, baby!!! QUESTION:  Do you apply ice or heat to an injury?   The rule of thumb is, you apply ICE to an acute injury--an injury that recently occured.  Most acute injuries are due to sudden impact like a sprain, or a fall, or a collision.  ICE will help reduce the pain and swelling.  The ice causes the blood vessels in the area to narrow and that helps decrease internal bleeding at the site of injury allowing a healing process to start.  ICE also helps relieve pain in overused joints--YES, it works great on my knees.  ICE can be in the form of ice cubes in a plastic bag, commercially available ice packs, or a bag of frozen fruit or veggies.  Whatever you have on hand to get the job done.  Only leave the ice pack in place for 15-20 minutes, NEVER LONGER because you do not want to damage the tissue by causing frostbite.  Using a thin towel or piece of material between your skin surface and the ice will help ward off any chance of frostbite as well.   If you want to apply ice again, wait until the area has warmed again--about 45 minutes--before applying more ice. 

     HEAT is usually used on chronic injuries--long standing injuries--or injuries that do not have inflammation or swelling.  An example of long standing injuries would be stiff joints or muscle pains.  Sometimes athletes use heat therapy on muscles and joints prior to their exercise to help loosen up the connective tissue and help with blood flow through the injured area.  NEVER use heat after an acute injury or after your activity.  Many times you will hear people say that the heat "felt so good" after they applied it to an acute injury.  It usually does, but this may actually slow the healing processes by allowing more inflammation to the area and slowing the healing process.  Hence, once the heating process stops, the injured site is hurting again.
     Heat can be achieve by using a warmed wet towel or a heating pad.  If you are heating a wet towel using a microwave, please be careful that the towel is not to hot to avoid burns to the area.  Although the heat may feel good, you should not leave the heat on too long or sleep with the heating pad.  
    
     Remember:  ICE for acute injuries like sprains or chronic long-standing injuries like arthritis, shin splints, joint issues, after activity.  HEAT for chronic long-standing injuries before activity.  SMOOCHES...
(special thanks to thesportsfamilyclub.com and medicinenet.com