Carl & Sandra's

We give handouts, show them which rubberized ice bags to use, have them available at the gym for purchase (we hate retail), put up posters, plead and threaten them with death.

I believe when something is so foreign, sounds so foreign, takes effort--not a lot, but some--and sounds uncomfortable, people are reluctant to do it.

It is not that cold treatment is new. Physical therapists and doctors have recommended it for over twenty-five years. It is just that: 1) people don't come in contact with these people on a regular basis; and 2) many physical therapists and doctors don't have much experience using cold treatment over long periods of time. They usually recommend twenty minutes at most, if that. We are talking about 45 minutes to two hours, depending on where the "itis" or injury is.

When we talk about these periods of time, people say they don't have that much time available. They have. They can apply cold treatments when they eat, write, read, watch TV or drive a car or when they lie down or go to sleep. They simply have to look for the opportunity. This type of planning results in healing, healing and more healing. This effort is nothing compared to the stress and lost time of having the "itis" or injury go on continuously.

As the following outline shows, cold with pressure works better than cold alone. If the pain is in your back area, then put ice in a rubberized ice bag with one-half cup water as described and lie on it and read or fall asleep. You won't get frostbite and you can't get too much. If you fall asleep, it will probably roll out of bed or, if it bothers your sleep, just toss the bag out after one or two hours.

If you can't use the pressure of you body, then secure the ice bag over the injured area with an Ace bandage.

It takes long periods of time to cure an "itis" or ache or injury. Think of rotator cuff injuries that linger and linger, or "itis" of the elbow or knee. One just doesn't get results with less than 45 minutes. If 45 minutes doesn't work, go longer--up to two hours. Then if over a two-week period you don't get relief, go to an orthopedic doctor and have the area examined. If you are susceptible--not hurt, but susceptible--to an "itis" of a specific area, use cold 30 to 45 minutes four to five times a week as a preventative measure.

So many times we have seen money wasted by going to a doctor, time wasted getting there and waiting around and all the doctor says is 15 to 20 minutes of cold treatment and take two aspirin or ibuprofen. They rarely recommend as long as two hours.

Cold can be effectively used on an injury which occurred weeks, months or even years before. Cold treatments work no matter how long ago the injury occurred. Cold can be used as on-going therapy to control something that might be with you for the remainder of your life. An example that stands out at the gym is a lady in her 40s who has arthritis in her right wrist, elbow, knee, hip and ankle. Using daily cold treatment, stretching and exercise, she is able to control her arthritis so she can work, ski, dance and play tennis. If she didn't actively work to minimize the effects of the arthritis, her activities would be greatly curtailed.

Many times muscle soreness lingers. Use cold treatments for one-half hour after a workout or at least before going to bed. Many athletes do this when they have trained so hard that they know they will experience muscle soreness the next day. Cold treatment prevents or greatly reduces soreness and allows you to come back for a top workout.

For healing or other therapeutic use we see no reason for heat. Heat just doesn't penetrate deep enough to have a healing effect. It does make you feel good because heat reaches the pain receptors so you feel pain relief. We recommend that people with an "itis," injury or sore muscles use heat before they train. It makes them feel good, their pain is lessened and they want to train more. Train as long as there is not going to be further injury. And, by the way, take a couple of aspirin or ibuprofen 20 to 30 minutes before training.

Use heat for feeling like training and cold for preventing, controlling or getting rid of an "itis" or injury. Cold will heal. After a long enough period of cold treatment, when the cold is taken away, up to five times as much blood flows to the area as normal. That heals--that is the healing effect!

If you are so fortunate as to have something wrong with a wrist, elbow or ankle, you get off with less time using cold treatment--30 to 40 minutes soaking in cold water is as much as 45 minutes to two hours of cold treatment with an ice bag and is more effective use of cold. We recommend getting a deep pan or bucket of cool water, add cold water to bring it down to very cold, and then add ice cubes to further cool it down. By doing it this way, it is easier to tolerate, especially if it is needed for some days. The water should be very cold but not throbbing--this usually means 60 to 63 degrees.