Icing for injury management when training and competing in the heat
ICE
When training in heat and hot countries, ice is a key part of injury management and prevention. Wheelie bins full of ice and water make a good ice bath which the many athletes will immerse themselves in immediately after warming down after a session. This is for two reasons. One, if an athlete has slightly pulled a muscle when training this was the most effective way to minimise any bleeding and inflammation. The other reason is that when athletes are training and racing in temperatures over 35 degrees, it has been shown that the longer that the body is above its normal temperature after training, many body processes are increased for that period: blood flow, metabolic rate, and dilation of the blood vessels at the skin (which will alter blood flow to muscles, body organs etc). This has a marked effect on increasing the athletes’ recovery time from that session, and therefore an effect on their next session, and possible injury. If no wheelie bin or formal ice bath is available, a cold bath with ice added can be used.
In the heat, post training massage can be followed by ice massage, for the reasons outlined above. This is done by putting massage cream or oil on the limb and then rubbing ice cubes over the limb. This can take ten to twenty minutes depending on the amount of cooling required.
ICE AND INJURY
Ice is a vital part of the treatment of an acute injury. If a joint is injured, one would apply ice in the normal manner, or in an ice bucket, keeping the joint moving, to allow dispersal of any swelling. With muscle injuries, ie hamstring, we would ask the athlete to sit on the edge of a table, with ice under the affected part. The athlete is then asked for the duration of the icing to gently bend and straighten the leg within the PAIN-FREE range. The theory being that the muscle doesn’t shorten with the icing, and the bleeding stop, only to start again when the muscle is lengthened in walking. Additionally, nerves should normally “slide” through tissues and the other theory behind this method is that it may help prevent the nerves that pass through the area of injury from becoming bound down in any adhesions formed by solidifying blood or tissue fluid, causing problems in itself. If it was the quadriceps that was affected, the athlete should lie on the stomach, ice under the quad, and again bend and straighten the leg within pain-free range.