Friday, March 13, 2009

Ice vs. Heat

We have all heard that ice is good. It makes the soreness in the muscles go away BUT is it really a cure for everything??

I have found out that for me it is not. Sure I ice my hamstrings, I go in the ice bath and stuff but this past week I found out that icing a hip flexor is not the best option for me.

I have finished my 4th week here with this injury. I didn't ice at all during the third week and I felt great! I was in Florida running in the sun and warm weather.

The next week I got back to school and continued with my rehab and started back icing. Well I started to have pain in my hip again. I was depressed and upset because I felt like I was taking a step backwards for no reason at all!

Last Thursday I went back to the trainers and they told me to stop icing. By icing my hip I was causing the muscle to tighten up and then I would try to walk it would be painful because the muscle was stretching. So I am off ice now and I just use heat for prewarm - up stuff. I am hoping next week I will be back in action!

Interesting how things work!!

In other exciting news I got new shoes! Ill post pictures tomorrow! Today marks the first day of OUTDOOR track practices!! We will probably be outside as it is supposed to be very nice out!!

Happy Monday!

13 comments:

Marcy said...

Oooooo new shoes! That's always fun! Outdoor track practices now, eh? Hopefully the weather keeps on the ups for us hehe

X-Country2 said...

Getting new shoes has seriously been the highlight of my week. Funny how that works.

Nicole said...

I <3 new shoes! I can't wait to see pics! Icing is ony good for some injuries. Atleast thats what i'm told at work. I'm glad you finally figured out that it isnt for you and now you can actually start taking big leaps forward! :)

Marlene said...

I guess the important thing is learning what works for YOU!

Continued recovery vibes coming your way. I hope that hip feels better!

Jamie said...

yay for new shoes! good thing you have trainers that were able to help you out with the ice vs heat!

The Laminator said...

Hey, I've been talking to some of my sports medicine doctor friends and they suggest that ice is really not appropriate for the winter months. You should always apply what is opposite of the weather you are running in.

So for winter running, heat pads and deep muscle massages are best. Ice baths should be reserved for the summer months. The hip flexor is a vascular region, so as such, it is probably better to increase circulation with heat rather than decrease the circulation with ice. It would only make sense to use ice to the region if there's acute swelling...

Best of luck in the outdoor track season!

Jocelyn said...

I think you are suppose to have heat for dull pain and ice for sharp pain. But really whatever work is good!

New shows are great

Chic Runner said...

Hope you feel better soon and the heat helps. I find that heat helps me a lot too :)

Felice Devine said...

That is interesting. Keep us posted on how it works out.

Meg said...

Wow, that's so annoying that you were prolonging your injury like that! It's great you figured it out though. I hope it feels better soon!

Brian said...

Good to know ice isnt the all in one cure for everything, thanks for the info!!

Aron said...

I have heard some injuries are best to do warm on... or to alternate, ice/hot. hope it works for you and makes that hip 100%!

Melanie said...

Yeah, I've definitely heard that about ice. I try to always do a little research before I decide if I'm going to ice or heat if something is bothering me.