“Somebody get ICE!” an often used reflex when somebody just sprained his ankle or felt on his wrist. The use of ice or cryotherapy in acute soft tissue injury is a well-known strategy to cope with the first problems of swelling and pain, despite a paucity of scientific data that support this strategy. Throughout the years it became evident that cryotherapy should not be an act on its own but needs to be part of an integral approach.

All athletes sustain injuries at some point, from professional sports people to fitness enthusiasts to people who just play sport to relax. These injuries are often treated with ice to reduce inflammation and relieve pain. In the most basic terms, this is the science that cryotherapy uses and a reason why this particular treatment is so popular among professional and amateur athletes. Here’s how cryotherapy helps with pain management and pain relief.

History

We probably all know the feeling, it hurts when you touch it, it feels swollen and warm, it looks red and you can actually feel your heart beat; the cardinal signs of an inflammatory response. This type of response might occur when you just sprained your ankle or recently had a surgery to your shoulder. When you think about it, you probably put ice on it or tried to cool it down in another way. It is commonly accepted that cryotherapy has an anti-inflammatory effect after soft tissue injury but why and how does it work?