Icing is a "Miracle Worker" for Knee Pain

I read an article recently by Adam Friedman, CSCS, CN, CMT who is a kinesiologist, certified strength & conditioning specialist, certified nutritionist, and certified massage technician. In the article he laid out a four step process to treat the symptoms and cause of knee pain. One of the four steps he discussed was icing. He called icing a "miracle worker" when done religiously. About the only to ice religiously is with a knee ice wrap. not only are they way more convenient than a bag of ice cubes but they are more effective too.

Below is the excerpt about icing from Adam's article.

Ice: Do this as soon as possible after activity for 15-20 minutes daily to reduce the pain and inflammation. An inflamed knee may or may not be noticeable to the eye, but is most likely present if you’ve recently had knee pain. Otherwise the healing will be much slower. Icing promotes a healing environment, and is a “miracle worker” when used religiously for pain.

You can read the compete article at http://www.smmirror.com/?ajax#mode=single&view=31876

Testimonial for Using a Quality Ice Wrap Made for Knees

Below is a great testimonial to using quality, body specific knee ice wraps instead of a bag of frozen peas, a zip lock of ice cubes, an all around ice wrap or even a cheap body part specific ice wrap. When you consider how much longer a quality wrap will last, how much better it will work and the fact that you will most likely use it more often because of how convenient and well it works you will soon find it was money well spent.

Review: Activewrap, the Mack Daddy of Wraps

Because when when you’re a runner, sometimes you need a little ice.

But hey, a wrap’s a wrap and ice is ice right? Who needs a fancy schmancy wrap when you’ve got frozen peas anxiously awaiting you in the freezer?

Not so fast there. Well…ok, maybe in a pinch a random bag of ice (or your favorite frozen vegetable) will do. But come on now, we’re running moms here. Do we really have time to sit around and ice? Me…not so much.

I bought a real actual (cheapo) ice wrap for my knees (sensitive little buggers) last year in training for my marathon. Bought it from Meijer for around $12-15 (best I can remember). But you know what they say, “you get what you pay for,” and that I did. I could never seem to get that wrap just exactly the way I wanted it and if by chance I did happen to get it just right, it would slide right down within taking a few steps. And really, if I’ve got to just sit down while I wear it, I might as well just use that bag of peas after all. On top of all that, it’s pretty much completely falling apart now. Awesome.

So when Ashley from ActiveWrap contacted me to see if I’d like to give one of their wraps a try, oh yeah. I was all about having a little upgrade. Wait. Scratch that. When you go from a clunker to a Cadillac, “little upgrade” isn’t an entirely accurate description. I moved waaaaaay up.

These wraps are heavy duty baby. The minute I opened the package and took a look at the knee wrap, I could just tell it was really solidly made, which is probably why they feel totally comfortable putting a warranty on their wraps.

There are three parts to these wraps: the hot/cold pack (you can freeze or microwave it for cold OR heat therapy whichever you desire), the bag you slip the pack in, and the outer wrap that you attach the bag to via some serious velcro then wrap around your knee. 

Besides the fact that I think this sucker is going to last a REALLY long time despite the ridiculous number of times I may be using it, here’s what I LOVE about these wraps:

1.) You can wrap them really tight around your leg so it doesn’t move if you walk around, but it’s not so tight that it’s uncomfortable.

2.) The cold part of the cold pack doesn’t get bunched up in any one particular area. It stays spread out all across the area you are icing.

3.) You get two cold/heat packs. With my other wrap, there was only one. I’d always forget to put mine in the freezer when I was done using it. Then the next time I needed it, I’d pretty much be screwed. While really you can ice anytime, it’s not nearly as effective as icing immediately after you finish running. So having to wait an hour or so for my cold pack to freeze up kind of seemed like a waste. I’d just use something else. But with ActiveWrap, I’ve always got a cold pack ready to go.

4.) They are REALLY REALLY cold. And yeah, I know cold is cold, BUT if you happen to be wearing running tights,  you can just strap that puppy right over top of your clothes and let me tell you, it is PLENTY cold. You can ice right through a pair of blue jeans if you have to. (I know this because I did. See the picture)

5.) You can adjust the position of the hot/cold pack within the wrap because of the various locations of velcro so you can get it right where you need it.

So all and all, this wrap gets two thumbs up for me and I am super excited to have it for my next marathon. Unfortunately, I only received one so I don’t have another one to giveaway. I could give away mine. But really, who’d want a wrap I’ve worn it on my sweaty smelly knee a fee times? (ahem…ok. Maybe it’s also completely washable and I just REALLY REALLY want to keep it. Can you blame me? My other one is falling apart for crying out loud!)

BUT I hear you can possibly score yourself a little discount if you follow along on Twitter or you like ActivWrap on Facebook. So you might want to check that out. Also take a peek at their website if you get a chance. You’ll find more detailed information on all their wraps for just about any body part that might cause you some grief for being an athlete and far better pictures than I was able to take with my silly little camera phone.

Big thanks to Ashley & the good people at ActiveWrap for giving me the chance to try out such a sweet product for runners. And especially thanks for all their patience, waiting around for me to write this review. I got the wrap in the mail just prior to the plague hitting and here a month later, I’m finally getting around to writing the review and letting you all know what I thought.  I’m sure they were starting to wonder if I just took their wrap and ran. Literally. If Ashley is representative of what their customer service is like, you all should go buy a wrap just to chat with them. So friendly, polite, and did I mention patient yet? Just an all around good company. Seriously, go check them out when you can.



P.S. So maybe no ActiveWrap giveaway, but there’s still a few hours to get in on that No Snow Snuggler giveaway for your little ones. Speak now or forever hold your peace (and toddler with frozen popsicle fingers as you carry them into the house sobbing because MOM, they want to play in the snow gosh darn it and for more than a few minutes! Details on that one here. And don’t forget the newly announced CaptivCrochet Giveaway for the grownups too!

P.P.S No my foot is not a freaky shade of glowing white. Nor is  that a digitally imposed foot. That’s just the flash people making it look all bizzarro. The flash.

When and How to Use Ice Therapy

Below is a good article on the benefits of ice therapy, the many issues of ice therapy and why ice therapy is beneficial in treating various injuries. Since knees are one the most injured and most painful joint in the body I thought this was a applicable and shows the usefulness of having a knee ice wrap on hand to be able to apply ice therapy as soon as possible after a knee injury

Ice Therapy: Effective Methods To Treat Ice Sprains, Strains, And Other Injuries

How to use ice therapy (cryotherapy) for injuries such as ligament sprains, muscle strains, overuse injuries, and other muscular pain.

By: Nancy Hausauer

Ice is a wonderful self-care tool for muscle strains, sprains, and other injuries. When used properly, it's safe and effective. It's as close as your kitchen freezer, and it's free!

When to Use Cold Therapy

Many people are confused about when to use ice therapy--also called cryotherapy. Here's a memory aid: Use Ice for Injuries and Inflammation.

Heat will just make inflammation worse, and that will increase pain and swelling in a recent injury--i.e. one that happened within the last 72 hours. If it's still hot, red, or swollen--don't put heat on it!

Cryotherapy on the other hand, constricts blood vessels and capillaries and slows metabolic activity, helping to prevent excessive swelling. It reduces pain and helps you heal faster.

Methods of Ice Therapy:

How do you use ice? Read on for the most effective methods.

Ice pack:

This is the good old standby. Use a commercially prepared ice pack, or put crushed ice from your freezer in a sealable bag with a little water.

Conformable Ice-Pack

Another great trick is to buy an old-fashioned hot water bottle and fill it part-way with a mixture of water and alcohol. Put it in your freezer for a few hours, and it's ready to go. It won't ever freeze completely, making it able conform to your body better than a solid block of ice. Return it to your freezer when you're done.

Conformable Ice-Pack 2

Dedicate a bag of frozen peas for t

he purpose of injury treatment. They also conform to body contours. Mark the bag with a permanent marker, because the peas will be melting and re-freezing multiple times, making them unfit for eating.

Ice Massage:

Freeze water in a small paper cup. Peel the top of the paper cup away and use the remaining paper as a kind of handle to help you hold on to the ice. Massage the ice over the injury for five minutes or until the area is numb. Keep the ice moving slowly and steadily. This is great for tendonitis and smaller areas and can provide considerable pain relief.

Icing Safely

A few tips will help you use ice safely and effectively:

1)  Don't put ice directly on your skin (except in the case of ice massage, when you're constantly moving it). Keep a barrier of cloth between you and the ice.

2) Apply ice until the area feels numb, but no more than 15 minutes at a time. Remove the ice after numbness sets in. You can actually cause yourself frost-bite by icing too long.

3)Don't use ice if you have rheumatoid arthritis, Raynaud's Syndrome, cold-allergic conditions (e.g. ice causes you to break out in hives), paralysis, or areas that don't have full feeling.

More Tips on Icing Effectively

For more tips on using ice effectively and safely, visit my massage website.

Nancy Hausauer is a licensed massage therapist, energy healer, and writer specializing in natural healing and wellness techniques. She has a private practice in Tacoma, Washington, U.S.  To learn more natural ways to support health and wellness, visit her websites at http://www.Tacoma-Massage-Therapy.com/ and http://www.The-Energy-Healing-Site.com/

Using Ice Wraps to Loose Weight...For Real

Below is an interesting recap of a recent Dr. Oz Show with guest Tim Farris of The 4 Hour Work Week fame.  The part that is relevant to this blog is using ice/cold to loose weight. Tim has certainly come up with another use for ice wraps. I have highlighted the portion related to using ice wraps to loose weight in case you don't want to read through the entire post.

Dr Oz did a segment called 4 Hours To The Perfect Body with Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Body and The 4-Hour Workweek.  Tim Ferriss joined Doctor Oz to teach us three cutting edge techniques to lose weight including Ice Therapy, Eat 30 Grams of Protein Within 30 Minutes of Waking Up, and Pig Out Once a Week.  Sounds too good to be true, right?  These are definitely some weight loss and fat burning techniques worth checking out!

Dr Oz: Timothy Ferriss 4-Hour Body

Dr Oz said that Tim Ferriss spent the past 15 years testing out every diet, product and weight loss premise to figure out what really works with the minimal amount of effort.  Could it really be possible to lose 20 pounds in 30 days and increase your fat burning potential by 300% by making simple changes?  Ferriss had been called a Life Hacker and teaches people how to triple the fat they lose with ice baths, how to get Michelle Obama arms with three 5 minute workouts per week, and how to enjoy wine and coffee while still losing fat.

Dr Oz: 4-Hour Body

Dr Oz asked Ferriss what is a 4- Hour Body?  Timothy Feriss said that it is about making the smallest changes in a consistent way that result in the biggest desired impact.  The idea is to not spend a lot of time and effort but to achieve profound changes.  Dr Oz said to Ferriss that critics say that his approaches are not medically sound, so how does he respond to this?  Tim Ferriss said that he is not a doctor, but he has worked with many doctors and most of his critics are trying to sell products that conflict with the suggestions in his weight loss plan called The 4 Hour Body.  Dr Oz said that he had his medical unit check all of the ideas in The 4-Hour Body, and almost everything checked out for medical soundness.

Dr Oz: Ice Therapy: 4-Hour Weight Loss Strategy #1

Dr Oz asked Timothy Feris what is Ice Therapy and how does it work?  He said that Ice Therapy triggers hormones that are helpful for fat loss.  You can do something as simple as a cold ice pack on your upper back and your upper chest for 30 minutes when you watch tv at night.  Then you can buildup to taking a cold shower the next morning.  And Ferriss said that the final step, which is what he does, is to take an actual Ice Bath up to your waist for 10 minutes, three times per week.  But take it slowly – you should not go from doing nothing straight into an Ice Bath.

Dr Oz: Why Do Ice Baths Make You Lose Weight?

Dr Oz said that he checked out this theory of Ice Therapy and that when you are cold, your body has to do a lot more work to do the same things as when it is warm – so you burn much more fat.  You have something called Brown Fat that is located around blood vessels and keeps your blood warm.  By cooling off with ice, your body is forced to burn a dramatically larger number of calories.  I have heard that sucking on ice cubes or drinking cold water also helps you to lose weight because your body has to use energy to bring the cold water or ice up to your body’s temperature.  Sounds like a similar phenomenon!

Dr Oz: 30 G Protein For Breakfast: 4-Hour Weight Loss Strategy #2

Timothy Ferris said that the next fat burning tip is to eat 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up.  For example, you can eat 5 eggs, turkey sausage, or protein shakes made of unflavored whey protein.  Ferriss says that this is critical because it starts your day off with the right fat burning hormones.  Dr Oz said that eggs are a safe way to get protein and generally do not increase your cholesterol unless you have a genetic pre-disposition.  Tim Ferriss said that this will also help you not to get a mid-afternoon slump after lunch.  You should always follow how you feel as an indication of how much fat you are burning.

Dr Oz: Pig Out Once A Week: 4-Hour Weight Loss Strategy #3

Dr Oz sounded slightly hesitant about this tip, but Ferriss said that by spiking your calories once a week, you improve your thyroid output (which is especially good for mothers), and it makes the weight loss plan more sustainable so that you will be strict the other 6 days.  You can limit the damage to your body from this once-a-week eating extravaganza by drinking grapefruit juice and doing squats after the big meal.

Dr Oz: Grapefruit Juice & Squats

Ferriss said that you have roughly one hour from when you eat junk food to drinking grapefruit juice and doing the squats to counteract the “mistakes” you make on your diet.  Dr Oz said that when you have grapefruit juice and do squats, you open up all of your receptors in the muscles so that the sugar goes into your muscles to become fuel rather than the sugar being deposited as fat around your belly.
Dr Oz and Tim Ferriss demonstrated how to do an Air Squat by putting both arms out in front of you for balance.  Make sure to sit slowly in a pretend chair until your thighs are parallel with the ground (or as far as you can go).

Knee Pain - Causes and Treatment

The knee is a complicated joint and a lot can go wrong with it. Pain can be caused by any number or things. To effectively treat knee pain you must first identify the cause of the pain. Sometimes this can be done by the patient but often it requires examination by a physician or qualified sports medicine practitioner.

Identifying the Cause of Knee Pain
The knee has many ligaments and tendons, any of which can cause knee pain. If the source of the pain is not diagnosed properly the prescribed treatment will most likely not be successful. Some knee injuries can be diagnosed by a simple examination. The medical practitioner will generally apply gentle stress to the knee in various directions and with the knee bent at various angles. Based on feedback from the patient they can often pin point the cause of the pain. However, often an MRI or x-ray is needed in order to determine the cause of the pain.
Once the cause of the pain has been diagnosed it must be determined whether surgery is required or not. If surgery is not required the patient may need nothing more than rest and non invasive treatment or they may require more regimented rehabilitation.

The same injury or cause of knee pain may be treated differently in different people. The severity of the condition is also a determining factor in what course of treatment is followed. When a treatment plan is derived things such as a person’s age, weight, general physical condition, other health issues as well as what type of physical activities the person does for work or pleasure. For instance, someone who is a competitive biker would have an entirely different treatment plan than a grandmother who only wants to be able to walk and do normal daily activities without any pain.

Treating Knee Pain
Knee pain is generally categorized as acute (related to a specific event, injury or accident) or chronic (from overuse, degenerative conditions or normal wear and tear). Regardless of the cause or classification of the pain, the first issue is generally to relieve the pain. Often this is all a patient needs or wants. If additional rehabilitation, such as regaining range of motion or strength, is needed it is frequently necessary to relieve the pain before the patient can begin rehabilitation.

The initial step in many knee pain treatment plans is to reduce swelling and inflammation. This generally done following the Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation (R.I.C.E) methodology. Taking anti inflammatory medication, such as ibuprofen, is also often advised.

Probably the most important parts of R.I.C.E are Ice and Compression. Cold reduces inflammation of the injured are and allows it to heal more quickly and compression helps stabilize the joint and keeps fluids away. Traditionally these treatments are done with a bag of ice and an Ace bandage or knee brace.

Recently more and more people are using a knee ice wrap in place of the bag of ice and Ace bandage. The advantages are many and people often like the results and convenience so much that they are able to continue with cold therapy to treat the injury much longer and also for prevention of further pain especially in the case of overuse. Simply wear the ice wrap for a little while after strenuous activities (much like a baseball pitchers ice their shoulder and elbow after a game or basketball players ice their knees after a game – football players are known to ice their whole bodies in an ice bath after games) at the first hint of pain.

Knee Ice Wrap and Knee Ice Pack for Ice Therapy

A knee ice wrap is the best way to utilize ice therapy for a knee injury or knee pain. Ice therapy is a very highly regarded and recommended treatment for many injuries and pain including knee pain. Knee pain can be caused by many things including: injuries, mechanical problems, types of arthritis and other problems. 


RICE
You have probably heard of the acronym R.I.C.E for treatment of injuries. The acronym stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Knee ice wraps encompass the Ice and Compression components of R.I.C.E treatment. Knee ice wraps have many advantages versus other ice therapy methods.


When many people hurt their knee and want use R.I.C.E. they lay down and elevate their leg. For the ice component most people fill a bag of some sort with ice or grab a bag of frozen vegetables from the freezer and balance it on their knee. For the compression they can use an Ace bandage around their knee and put the ice bag on top of that. This is effective if the wrap is not too thick so as to prevent the cold from reaching the knee properly. It is also good because it protects the skin from getting too cold.


Some people may have an all purpose ice wrap that they fill with ice and can strap it to their knee. this is probably better than a bag of ice or frozen vegetables because it may allow the cold to surround more of the knee. This is only true if the all purpose wrap fits the knee adequately which may be tough for a wrap that can also be used for your back, ankle or shoulder. 


An all purpose wrap that uses a re-usable ice pack is better. However, this is only true if the ice pack has individual chambers that keeps the cold evenly spread out over the pack. Without individual chambers the cooling agent can accumulate in areas like ice can and therefore not providing even cooling, or even any cooling, for your knee. 


The best solution is an ice wrap designed specifically for knees that uses and an ice pack with individual chambers and preferably the cooling agent is non-toxic in case of a leak. A knee ice wrap provides compression and even cooling to the knee in all the right places. It also stays in place with no need to balance it or re-adjust. It can even be worn while walking. 


There is also concern over the the ice wrap leaking like a bag of ice cubes or dripping from condensation. The ice inserts are cheap making it very affordable to have extras so you don't have to wait for one to re-freeze before using it again. The inserts may also be used in ice wraps for other body parts. Additionally, the ice pack stays at the optimal temperature for ice therapy longer than ice cubes or gel meaning it provides better cold therapy to the injured knee.