When To Ice

Western medical doctors, physical therapists, and even chiropractors often recommend icing fresh wounds, acute injuries, and chronic pains. The thinking behind this advocacy is twofold:

First: when you cut off the circulation to a local inflammation, you decrease the capacity of the body to increase inflammation at that site.

Second: the cold will numb the pain.

As far as I am concerned, this is errant thinking. Once more, my position on icing is entirely contrary. Never ice a trauma except for one single condition. I advocate icing a first or second degree burn. For all other complaints, whether cuts, scrapes, bruises, muscle or tendon injuries, or chronic conditions, never ever ever apply ice.
My thinking is also twofold:

First: when you have an injury, the number one thing you want to do is increase the blood supply to the local area. The entire purpose of the inflammatory response is to cue the body to focus its attention at that location. The blood carries all of the emergency responders of the body, including cells that heal wounds and, when healing is complete, remove inflammation. When you ice the body, you decrease the blood supply to the area so you actually slow down healing.

Second: in traditional Chinese medicine, energetic cold is considered the most likely cause of chronic pains. Physical cold is one form of energetic cold, so the application of ice to the local area increases the likelihood that the injury will become chronic or that the pain will actually worsen over time.

After initial traumas, use Fu Xi Wen as soon as you can (also true for burns). Fu Xi Wen can treat the injured tissue directly and immediately start the healing process. I also use 30C of Arnica Montana, a homeopathic remedy, after an acute injury. I have found Arnica Montana is much better than ice. Much better, time after time after time. It is a wonderful medicine.

This advice is not for hemophiliacs or people suffering from other bleeding diseases. In your cases, diminishing circulation may be the best thing. But for people who do not suffer from chronic diseases, I believe icing is the worst possible thing you can do for an injury.

Ethan Borg, L.Ac. M.A.OM.