RICE ... Ice Delays Recovery

Why Ice Delays Recovery:
Dr. Gabe Mirkin on Health, Fitness and Nutrition. | Why Ice Delays Recovery

Dug in to this and asking around with some trainer friends and they all concur, icing has been debunked for a few years now. The preferred method appears to be "Voodoo Flossing". Really.

I sent this story to my wife who used to be a certified NAAT (or whatever the letters are) athletic trainer since she is our resident expert formy daughter as well as on our team. She read it, then sent it on to a friend who is the trainer for an NFL team.. He said he was familiar with the theory however from his experience RICE was still the best option however he said there might be aplications where not icing could be a better route. FWIW

Don't throw away your ice packs just yet

Since applying ice to an injury has been shown to reduce pain, it is acceptable to cool an injured part for short periods soon after the injury occurs. You could apply the ice for up to 10 minutes, remove it for 20 minutes, and repeat the 10 minute application once or twice. There is no reason to apply ice more than six hours after you have injured yourself.

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Icing always seemed counter-productive to me; let the body do what it does.

Tatonka said:

Dug in to this and asking around with some trainer friends and they all concur, icing has been debunked for a few years now. The preferred method appears to be "Voodoo Flossing". Really.

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Thank you. Just getting up to speed on this.

I started doing something similar to what is shown below and have liked the results ...

I think RICE makes sense short term first few hours until next day or maybe next depending on how sore it still is.

I think for recovery after 24 hours MCE (move, compress, elevate) seems right.

and I should know I've stayed at a Holiday Inn Express

I'm only referring to this in the context of recovery NOT injury. I have been using the RICE protocol as well as anti-inflammatory meds (like Ibuprofen) for muscle soreness and recovery but am now rethinking it. The book referenced below "Iced" was written by the guy who first developed the RICE protocol so you may want to take a look at his views on it now.

Inflammation is good, swelling is bad. Ice just delays the inflammatory process that has to occur for healing to work. Movement under compression ("Voodoo flossing") diminishes swelling while allowing the necessary inflammatory process to continue. Good resource: https://www.amazon.com/Iced.../dp/0989831949/ref=sr_1_2...

Iced!: The Illusionary Treatment Option
“Topical cooling (icing) delays recovery.” -Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research/National Strength…
AMAZON.COM

This article is addressing muscle injury only. He doesn't mention "soft tissues " until the end and then it will s lumped in with muscles.
I'm thinking RICE sounds good but the article does not address damage involving joints / soft tissue.
DD dveloped costochondritis this year and it has been a huge problem. It is an inflammation of the cartilage that connects ribs to sternum. When she has a flare up, the only thing that provides relief is ice. We have been dealing with it since February and we are still somewhat in the dark

Icing the ribs. That must be fun.