Gretchen Reynolds reports for The New York Times that it might not be a good idea to ice your sore muscles. One new study of mice whose muscles were iced suggests that icing can actually do harm. Icing muscles could keep them from healing.
How has it taken us so long to discover that we should not be icing sore muscles? After all, every day exercise facilities, sports arenas and other exercise venues dispense ice packs for sore muscles. But, the study found that icing not only does not work; it could cause harm.
People like to ice their sore muscles because icing often feels good and provides some quick pain relief. It causes numbing of pain. It also keeps muscles from swelling.
Yet, when you dig deeper, you find that icing really does little to alleviate pain. It does little to help people get back into shape. It actually can slow down the healing process. It can lead to less muscle strength.
The new study simulated the effects of exercise on mice and then tested muscle recovery with and without icepacks. The researchers found that icing affects muscles at the molecular level. Those icepacks caused damage to the mice’s muscle fibers, tissue damage. Recovery was far quicker for the muscles that were not iced.
The researchers concluded that “icing retards healthy inflammatory responses.” That said, the researchers acknowledged that mice are not people, and our muscles differ to some extent. Moreover, their research involved icing of damaged muscles, not simply sore muscles. So, who knows really?
The good news: You don’t have to go looking for ice when you strain your muscles. They generally can take care of themselves!
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