(No, don't put this on your IT Band)
So let me just say, you're overusing ice as a treatment.
There, I said it. That felt really good.
When you're a runner, here's when you use ice:
When you have swelling. Like a sprained ankle.
You've broken something.
When a muscle strain or pull occurs.
That's it. And when you use it, you use for only 36 hours after the injury. 36 hours. Acute injuries only. Not 5-6 days.
Then you're done.
Ice should be used on area for 20-30 minutes, and then removed. You can repeat the process, and add the ice on the area after has warmed up again. You can contrast the ice with a heat treatment as well.
Ice or cold treatments do two things, they stop swelling, and they stop pain. When an area is injured, they body sends extra fluid in order to send additional nutrients to the injured area, and the areas swells with the additional fluid, causing swelling, redness tightness and pain. It's a normal biological function. Placing Ice on the area can help to slow the process of swelling and some pain. But it's temporary. After 36 hours, you're better off with an anti-inflammatory, to help with the pain and the healing process.
Why do we like ice? Because it stops the pain. But the problem is we're not cold blooded. We have a rather high body temperature by circulation and blood flow in order to keep us warm from our organs to our muscles to our skin. Adding cold stops this process. Cold makes our muscle restricted and contracted. It impedes blood flow and causes the muscles to tension. It slows down recovery. So, if you suffer from back spasms, and sore knees after a regular run, and you regularly use ice as apart of the recovery process, you're not helping yourself. Ice is no more effective than a pair of compression socks.
In fact, a lot calf cramps and strains can be caused muscle ischemia, a lack of circulation, that can be caused by a preexisting muscle tension. That's right, muscle tension. You're muscles are tight and cold. You're range of motion is limited. You're not stretching enough and there's no flexibility and the muscles. They're over taxed, and zing, a strain or cramp occurs.
When my hamstring cramped at mile 2 of this year's Chicago Marathon. After I finished, it never occurred to me to put ice on it. It stretched it, and massaged it and I used heat on it. I was running in 3 days, pain free. When you have a situation like this and a muscle cramps or pulls, Ice can't fix it, it's really because there is a muscle overuse or muscle imbalance, there's something more systematic going on.
For old reoccurring injures, Please use heat. Heat, Heat, Heat. Keep warming the area. Take a hot shower, put on a heating pad, and get the areas stretched and relaxed. Move. Get massages. Use a foam roller. And get rid of that Ice pack. Keep it for emergencies. This stuff is not predetermined, to happen over and over again. Unless you really want it to.
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