Video: Why should I ice after injury or surgery? Physiotherapist's recommendation explained.

Have you ever suffered injury or gone through surgery and your doctor or physiotherapist has advised you to apply ice to the affected area?

Why do they do that? The two main benefits of ice after injury or surgery are:

1. Pain Management: The cooling effect of ice acts as a numbing agent that reduces pain in the area and ice basically acts as an alternative to pain-killer medications for many people.
2. The other benefit is that when you apply ice along with a little bit of pressure you can help reduce swelling and inflammation in that area.

In the video below, watch Dimitri answer the questions "Why should I use ice after my injury or surgery?" and "Why does my physical therapist tell me to use ice?"

Read the full blog on how does ice contribute to my recovery and should I use it here.

Read all 3 of Dimitri's blogs here!

Remember, icing is generally safe but it’s always safest to consult your healthcare professional for advice before icing your recently-operated or injured area. And remember if you have had surgery and are using ice, keep your knee or hip clean and dry while applying ice for pain relief.

You can find more information about recovery from hip replacement, knee replacement, as well as ACL tears and surgery from our Curovate App! Curovate is an app for physical therapy. Within the Curovate app, there are personalized rehabilitation plans which include video-guided exercises and precise scheduling of when to perform these exercises at your stage of recovery. Proper rehabilitation, which is accomplished with diligent exercise and pain management, is key to ensuring your body can recover at (near) 100% of its ability before sustaining the injury. Click the links below to download the Curovate physical therapy app, available for iOS and Android devices!

If you need further customized assistance during your recovery check out our Virtual Physical Therapy page to book your 1-on-1 video session with a physical therapist.

Other Related Blogs

• Am I too young to get a knee replacement?
• I injured my ACL what should I do?
• After I wake up from ACL surgery, what should I expect?
• Ice, compression, elevation and ankle pumps
• Physical therapy advice after knee or hip surgery to keep up with your exercises! – Part 1

References

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8. Clarke, H. A., Manoo, V., Pearsall, E. A., Goel, A., Feinberg, A., Weinrib, A., Chiu, J. C., Shah, B., Ladak, S. S., Ward, S., Srikandarajah, S., Brar, S. S., & McLeod, R. S. (2020). Consensus statement for the prescription of pain medication at discharge after elective adult surgery. Canadian Journal of Pain, 4(1), 67–85.

9. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2020, December 1). Edema. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved October 11, 2021, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/edema/symptoms-causes/syc-20366493.

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11. Weber, K. (n.d.). The technical benefits of icing - inverse med. The Technical Benefits of Icing. Retrieved November 1, 2021