Rethinking R.I.C.E.

[ny biker]

I read something similar recently in Road Bike Review. I sent it to my trainer to see what he thought of it, but he hasn't had a chance to read it yet.

I will sometimes ice my knee if the patella tracking problem is acting up, and it seems to help a lot with that problem. But that's a recurring issue, not quite chronic but not something that will ever really go away either.

If something really really hurts (like a bee sting) I will ice it to kill the pain.

I also rarely take NSAIDs. They tend to the bother my stomach.

[Catrin]

This has been discussed for the last year or so now (that I'm aware of), and I know several very good PTs, strength and conditioning coaches, and trainers who now fall on the side of compression rather than ice. Personally I've found that compression has worked better for me as far as decreasing inflammation and speeding recovery. Ice has never really helped with pain for me, at least not in the way that others have reported. If it still hurts after a few days I will pull out the heat instead.

If (when) my patella tracking problem acts up I pay closer attention to things up/downstream from it for I've found that generally it is due to a problem with my form OR I've been trying to run on pavement. I do take a rather strong prescription NSAID (Voltarin) for my neck problems but nothing aside from that. I would love to give that up but it becomes obvious when I've not taken it for 5-6 days that it really does help a lot and it keeps me mobile.

[Pax]

My trainer told me to stop using ice last winter, he cited studies showing it delays the normal healing process. I used to use it routinely and now only occasionally, seems to be working fine this way.