Ice baths - at best waste of time, at worst dangerous ?

[laoisgaa]

Punishing ice baths have no proven benefits for sports stars, research unveiled at the 27th annual conference of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists has revealed.

A four year research programme by University of Limerick Professor Alan Donnelly and his team into cryotherapy treatments, ranging from ice baths to high-tech cryotherapy chamber, has revealed such treatments of exercise induced muscle soreness and damage have no proven benefits.

Addressing the packed conference of physiotherapists drawn from across the country as well as a number of international experts, Dr Donnelly stated that while whole-body cryotherapy (cryotherapy chambers) are operated at temperatures (-110° C or lower) colder than the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth, they tend to be operated professionally and do not leave players/patients at risk.

However, ice baths, which are being used increasingly for recovery in sports clubs across the country, are often no more than wheelie bins filled with ice and present real risks. These risks include ice burns and bronchospasm (constriction of airways) , which is a greater risk if players are submerged above the waist, while asthma sufferers are particularly vulnerable.

"The bulk of evidence, including our own research, says that there are no proven benefits for recovery from cryotherapy treatments, be they cryotherapy chambers or ice-baths. The results from our tests, which were focussed on recovery, did not support the use of either form of cryotherapy to alleviate muscle soreness and damage. Ultimately, the best recovery stategy is a suitable warm-down, including mild exercise and stretching, not immediate immersion in ice-baths or whole-body cryotherapy," he said.

The studies carried out under the University of Limerick professor's team included rigorous physical exercise tests that induced repairable muscle soreness followed by volunteers standing immersed to hip level for 4 minutes in water at either 6oC (cryotherapy) or 19oC (control) immediately after and at 24, 48 and 72 hours after the exercise bout. Results showed no significant difference in the response to either treatment. The tests showed that force didn't return any faster and volunteers weren't any less sore afterwards.

"Studies generally agree that whole-body cryotherapy is safe when correctly applied but there are no proven benefits for recovery. However, if not correctly applied, there is potential for cold injury, including frost-nip, frostbite, reactive broncho-constriction and hypothermia," he continued.

"There is a little bit more evidence for contrast water treatment (hot and cold) than cryotherapy but the on balance the bulk of evidence also says that this does not work either. However, with regard to ice baths, not only are there no proven benefits but when the whole body is immersed  these are likely to cause problems.

Professor Donnelly also revealed that up to 40% of muscle force dissipates in the aftermath of intense exercise participation and that it could take up to 10 days for full recovery. "This suggests that macho training session often relied on by coaches is counter-productive. Certainly during the competition season, this type of training is not a good idea."

[INDIANA]

Putting your lower half of your body into an ice bath after a hard training session usually eases the aches of a hard training session. 2 days later you should be raring to go.
I think their effects are over-stated but if you had 2 matches in a week and were working as well. I cant see just rest and diet being adequate to ensure you would be in good shape for the 2nd game. thats based on my experience.

Its very much up to the individual.

However they are completely wrong in their research if they think that cold water therapy does not help reduce swelling in the intial stages of an acute muscle tear. Any club that has a plunge pool within their facilities will be testament to that.

[Dinny Breen]

Does the ice not help repair the micro tears of the muscle caused during training,just as you would ice a muscle tear as soon as you can after the injury occuring and also helps get fatigued muscles

Heres an article published by the English Institue of Sport

When it came to ice baths and contrast baths, Leeder says that existing evidence combined suggests there are beneficial properties of using them in recovery.

"Evidence suggests that ice baths reduce muscle soreness after exercise and that the effects on muscle function is specific to the exercise" Leeder says.

"So for example, gym based work with physical strain versus metabolic work where the heart rate is up for a prolonged period. Ice baths prove more effective for metabolic work than gym work. If used for gym work regularly, they may make athletes feel better but the muscles won't have recovered any better than they would have if they hadn't used one."

http://www.eis2win.co.uk/pages/news_ratingrecoveryforeliteathletes.aspx

[laurencewhite]

I feel the article is misleading. Ice Baths (cold water baths) have many applications to aid recovery depending on the situation.
The research mentioned does not detail the subject group, intensity work load (very hard to replicate the strains on the body of a game of football), protocols used (temp of water, duration) and details of the control group.
For example in a congested fixture list if you have 3 fixtures in a 7 day period ice baths will aid recovery so you can perform at your maximum or near to it in each game.
For example in extreme heat conditions ice baths are used to bring the core temperature back to normal quicker which aids the recovery process.
For example Ice baths can be used in conjunction with hot baths for contrast bathing which again has been shown to aid recovery.
For example pre cooling in an Ice Bath has been used to keep core temperature down to reduce the rise of core temperature on performance.
Previous research has shown the negative impact of ice baths on the training effect but this is with water temperatures below 8 degrees.
More recent modalities for hydrotherapy are for temperatures of 12-15 degrees celcius , so a better description may be cold baths as opposed to ice baths
I have known the majority of a squad use Ice Baths when they have been optional as they feel the benefits as they know what works for them and how their body recovers.
As like many training or recovery protocols if administered at the wrong time or protocol they can have a negative impact.

[paco]

The steam room/sauna to cold shower seems to work for me. Never as sore the next day.

[The Claw]

I think the best method of recovery is massage. I know its not practical for the those team to get a massage after training but those foam rollers are good for massaging the muscles and aiding recovery.
I'm not sure where I stand on ice baths. I think for a niggling injury, they can help a lot. As for recovery, I prefer alternating between a hot shower and a cold water bath - NOT an ice bath.
I'm not sure where I stand on compression tights either. SOmetimes I think my legs feel fresher but like anything else, its hard to tell when to can't compare it to what you would be like without having worn them.

[magpie seanie]

Its impossible to prove it one way or another. What is the control for the experiments for a start?

[illdecide]

There was a good article in one of the Sunday papers (Can't remember if it was Sunday Life or Sunday World) regarding the ice baths and the importance of iceing after a serious workout or injury...he seemed to talk sense (well it sounded that way to me)

[North Longford]

Theres a difference in doing ice baths and doing the hot/cold. Would not be advised to do the hot if you have been injured during the session. Hot usually left until after the acute stage...post 72 hours until any inflammation has settled. Benefit of cold is reduction in inflammation plus other affects including pain relieving effects. Combined with the hot it causes a blood pumping type action...hot increasing blood flow to extremities, cold reducing the same which can have tissue healing benefits. If you have got injured during a session its probably even advisable not to have a hot shower directly after or at least, for example say you sprained your ankle then try and keep that ankle out of the hot water.