To Ice or Not to Ice?
There has been much debate about icing after competition. My feelings are you can’t go wrong with icing, and this is coming from someone who would rather get in a fight with a polar bear. I have a few suggestions why you should and how to make it easy, also included are articles that play devils advocate about icing. Why not? I love a debate.
Even if icing is merely mental, I generally saw the benefits after a long brutal weekend against our nemesis U of A. Especially during our epic sweep during 2008, where Taryn Mowatt and I went pitch for pitch for 10 innings. The end score 9-8, if there was a theme song it would have been Outkast’s “Bombs over Baghdad, because it got cray cray. For instance, after that game I iced, and the next day my arm didn’t feel tight or sore. Before the next game, which was Wednesday our trainer massaged my arm for about 5 mins to get it loose. You can do this yourself in the shower, as Coach Lee would tell us (SLOHS Softball) “milk your arm.” Still to this day telling H.S girls to “milk your arm” brings a smile to my face, because it’s just hilarious, you know we were all super immature about it too. What this does is it helps to push the lactic acid around so the blood flows and breaks up stiffness.
So here are some tips:
- Ice once you’ve cooled down about 15 mins after competition
- Ice no more than 15-20 mins
- Massage your arm during a hot shower
- Drink your recovery formula & lots of WATER
Now to play devil’s advocate, I read in a Yahoo article about icing one’s arm after competition, and they had valuable information that I suggest you read as well. During exercise you make micro tears in the muscle that cause inflammation, in which they state, “Inflammation is part of the natural healing process and a normal function of our immune system. We can't repair our muscles and tissues without it…Swelling isn't the problem. The problem is lingering waste products as a result of injury. These waste products need to be washed away by driving fluid into the area and flushing waste away using the lymphatic system, a part of the circulatory system that sucks up waste and debris for removal…. Icing literally freezes the lymphatic system in its tracks, preventing it from kick-starting the healing process” (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/pitchers-ice-throwing-prevent-shoulder-173013495.html). They suggest light activity/exercises, proper nutrition, and sleep. If you’re not willing to ice, check out my article on warming down because that too can act as a good way of slowly letting your body cool off with a foster’s freeze touch.
What ever your athlete chooses to do, you won’t be harmed either way- unless you’re trying for hypothermia- in that case behave. Good luck and remember drink lots of water, eat well, and get your 8 hours!
What to buy:
(*Note this is a leak free, waste free way to ice your arm, I learned this trick in Japan!)
- Ice Bags- 3 Pack (buy 2): https://www.amazon.com/Ohuhu-Hot-Cold-Ice-Pack/dp/B01AADOZCU/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1491489561&sr=8-4&keywords=ice+bags
- Ace Bandages (buy 3) https://www.amazon.com/ACE-Elastic-Bandage-Closure-Inches/dp/B005YU8TEA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491489435&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=ace+bandage&psc=1