![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/the-players-300x300.png?resize=300%2C300\")
Player Wellbeing or Victory at all Costs<\/strong><\/h6>\nMy interest in this topic stems from my love of watching Australian Rules Football. It seems the job of the medical team and support staff is to return an injured player to the field as quickly as possible and, looking at the litany of long-term injuries of high profile players, I silently began to question the accepted protocols.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t initially questioning the methods, but rather the end result: What was the first priority \u2013 the health and wellbeing of the player, or the scoreboard? I\u2019m not about to question an individual practitioner\u2019s response to injury but my interest in the topic led me to various articles and opinion pieces on the efficacy or otherwise of ice as a legitimate response to injury.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Good-icing-v-bad-icing-2-683x1024.png?resize=294%2C441\")
<\/p>\n
What Do the Experts Say?<\/strong><\/h6>\nOn Physical Therapy Web, Dr Bahram Jam<\/a>, physical therapist, \u00a0specifically reviews the possible negative effect that icing can have on tissue remodelling and concludes that the temporary pain reduction arising from the application of ice is not worth the hindrance to proper maturation and collagen formation. (Tip: Read Part 2 of this article as well for the use of NSAIDS – link at the bottom of the article.)<\/p>\nPhysical Therapist Justin Vanderleest, writing for The Globe and Mail <\/em><\/a>\u00a0highlights the importance the inflammatory response plays in infection control.<\/p>\nAnatomy and Physiology study taught me that the human body is an amazing universe; one that heals, invents and adapts. I picture the body\u2019s inflammatory response as a little internal ambulance with its lights flashing and sirens blaring, carrying leukocytes and macrophages to the site of the injury to get the clean-up started. So why is icing still popular despite the research?<\/p>\n
Pain Be Gone, Please<\/strong><\/h6>\nI think about the footballer who has fallen awkwardly on their ankle. The fall causes pain and restriction of movement. Having experienced the way ice will numb an area and remove some of the impediment to movement, I can understand that the footballer, pleased with the decreased sensitivity afforded by the ice pack, is keen to get back on the field to kick another goal. Even as I cheer my team on, I think about how this overriding of pain and removal of restriction might lead to weakness and degeneration down the track, due to the body being unable to do its job of healing itself.<\/p>\n
As a Remedial Massage Therapist with a number of sports clients, I sometimes find myself in discussion about the efficacy of ice and I always encourage people to research the topic and come to their own conclusions.<\/p>\n
There is a modern aversion to any sort of pain. As someone with a low pain threshold, I can appreciate this desire to avoid pain. However, if I\u2019m told that the pain is unlikely to get any worse than it is now, that it is my body\u2019s way of protecting itself from further injury, and that the pain will lessen within a reasonable amount of time, then I\u2019d rather cop a bit of pain than cause irreparable damage.<\/p>\n
Question. Research. Debate. Analyse.<\/h6>\n
Thinking back to that class with the visiting professor, and kicking my own goal, we should remember to put some trust in our own observations, to be unafraid of stepping to the outskirts \u2013 or, indeed, to the front \u2013 of the herd. Remember to always question, research, debate, analyse.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/neverstopasking-2.png?resize=599%2C337\")
<\/h6>\nWant to learn more about the icing arguments?<\/strong><\/h6>\nHelp yourself to a selection of articles and studies and comment below if you have other resources to share:<\/p>\n
Paul Ingraham at Painscience on the pros\/cons and the state of the evidence (April 2017)<\/a><\/p>\nDoes Cryotherapy Improve Outcomes With Soft Tissue Injury<\/a>? by Hubbard and Denegar (2004)<\/p>\n
Physical Therapist Justin Vanderleest, writing for The Globe and Mail <\/em><\/a>\u00a0highlights the importance the inflammatory response plays in infection control.<\/p>\n Anatomy and Physiology study taught me that the human body is an amazing universe; one that heals, invents and adapts. I picture the body\u2019s inflammatory response as a little internal ambulance with its lights flashing and sirens blaring, carrying leukocytes and macrophages to the site of the injury to get the clean-up started. So why is icing still popular despite the research?<\/p>\n I think about the footballer who has fallen awkwardly on their ankle. The fall causes pain and restriction of movement. Having experienced the way ice will numb an area and remove some of the impediment to movement, I can understand that the footballer, pleased with the decreased sensitivity afforded by the ice pack, is keen to get back on the field to kick another goal. Even as I cheer my team on, I think about how this overriding of pain and removal of restriction might lead to weakness and degeneration down the track, due to the body being unable to do its job of healing itself.<\/p>\n As a Remedial Massage Therapist with a number of sports clients, I sometimes find myself in discussion about the efficacy of ice and I always encourage people to research the topic and come to their own conclusions.<\/p>\n There is a modern aversion to any sort of pain. As someone with a low pain threshold, I can appreciate this desire to avoid pain. However, if I\u2019m told that the pain is unlikely to get any worse than it is now, that it is my body\u2019s way of protecting itself from further injury, and that the pain will lessen within a reasonable amount of time, then I\u2019d rather cop a bit of pain than cause irreparable damage.<\/p>\n Thinking back to that class with the visiting professor, and kicking my own goal, we should remember to put some trust in our own observations, to be unafraid of stepping to the outskirts \u2013 or, indeed, to the front \u2013 of the herd. Remember to always question, research, debate, analyse.<\/p>\n Help yourself to a selection of articles and studies and comment below if you have other resources to share:<\/p>\n Paul Ingraham at Painscience on the pros\/cons and the state of the evidence (April 2017)<\/a><\/p>\n Does Cryotherapy Improve Outcomes With Soft Tissue Injury<\/a>? by Hubbard and Denegar (2004)<\/p>\nPain Be Gone, Please<\/strong><\/h6>\n
Question. Research. Debate. Analyse.<\/h6>\n
<\/h6>\nWant to learn more about the icing arguments?<\/strong><\/h6>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Karenlee-Thompson-profile-pic-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\")
Karenlee Thompson is a writer of fiction and non-fiction with a BA in English Literature and Journalism. Her memoir \u2013 \u201cMemoir Mine\u201d \u2013 has been shortlisted for the Lane Cove Literary Awards 2017. Following an extended bout of injury and ill health, she found herself in the capable hands of a remedial massage therapist and was astounded by the improvements to her health and wellbeing. Upon recovery, she enrolled to gain her RMT qualifications and now works from her home clinic on the Redcliffe Peninsula in Queensland. She has two chooks and a veggie garden and she dances (alone) like Seinfeld’s Elaine.