We all know the conventional sports wisdom that says you should get ice on an injury as quickly as possible. However, does this apply to climbing and should you ice a climbing injury? Climbing Magazine recently published an article by Dr. Lisa Erikson (Climbing Injuries Solved) to try and answer this question of whether or not icing is actually beneficial to the healing process.
In the article, Dr. Lisa uses the example of a sprained ankle and cautions against overly aggressive icing.
“In past years, ice has been shown to limit pain, swelling, blood flow, and metabolism in the injured tissue. As the research goes on, we are learning more about how inflammation and swelling control can limit pain and/or repair. With too much ice, we limit the ability of these healing factors to get to the injury site and thus, we have less healing taking place. Because of this, we don’t want to aggressively ice in the beginning of an injury, a cold wet towel and/or some compression with an acewrap or kinesiotape will suffice. With not enough swelling control, the area is larger, more painful, and a better indicator as to how much healing still needs to take place.” – Dr. Lisa Erikson
As Dr. Lisa states above, it is especially important to avoid over icing at the beginning stages of an injury. However, she does not fully throw icing out the window and asserts that icing a climbing injury does have its time and place.
“When is icing a good idea? To limit pain, it’s perfect to apply more ice after those first few days of a new injury. If you must ice, ice gently and with repeated short barrier-aided applications. For those areas that are visibly changing size or chronic in a way that they are not healing on their own, I tend to tell my athletes to choose ice with the addition of compression for any areas that have swelling control issues.” – Dr. Lisa Erikson
Click through bellow to read the entire article on icing. It may just help you bounce back quicker from your next climbing injury.
Also if you are interested in learning more about injury prevention check out our Injury Prevention Guide by Dr. Jared Vagy and Dr. Lisa’s book Climbing Injuries Solved for more in depth information on treating and preventing climbing injuries.
Click Here: Should You Ice a Climbing Injury with Dr. Lisa Erikson
(photo by Steven Depolo/ Flickr: http://ow.ly/RFbPh; courtesy of climbing.com)
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Thanks for sharing this information. Dr. Lisa’s book is a must buy for every climber new and old. I happen to be one of the few climbers who has a copy of the old “One Move Too Many” book that was ground breaking years ago; and I’m sure, helped many climbers. “Climbing Injuries Solved” is an upgrade and update to climbing injury treatment. It is a little pricey, but very much worth the investment. Keep in mind that Dr. Lisa helped Daniel Woods, Angie Payne, and Dave Graham all come back from injury–and back to elite form. That is compelling! Anyway, you have a terrific site with fantastic tips. Keep up the excellent work.