I recently had a procedure and was reminded of the amazing power of cold therapy. When you have an injury to your skin/muscle tissue, it’s normal to have symptoms of inflammation: pain, swelling, redness and warmth. They can be difficult to cope with or even debilitating.

Ice or cold therapy may be recommended by surgeons for the first 48-72 hours (Inverarity, 2024). I know a lot of people ‘poo poo’ the idea of ice as a real treatment, instead reaching for the acetaminophen, ibuprofen or prescription pain medicine. But ice really does help when swelling is interfering with healing. It can help a lot in the first few days after surgery. I’ll admit though that cold therapy has become a bit controversial with new research showing that in some cases you should NOT use ice (Brognano, 2024).

You will notice that ice decreases swelling and inflammation. It does more though. It also slows down pain signals from your nerves. I noticed that my swelling went down faster than a friend’s when she had the same procedure. In a few days, I’ll start using heat to help improve blood flow which will help the bruising go away.

Several years ago another friend had an abdominal hernia repair and then a few years later a repeat surgery to get rid of adhesions from the original surgical site. After the second surgery she had a big problem with pain control. A week after surgery she was still complaining about unrelieved pain, even with narcotics. The surgeon’s office told her to use ice for 20 minutes at a time at least 4 times a day for the next week. She was incredulous that using ice to her abdomen made such a big difference that she didn’t need narcotics after one day of icing the surgical site.

If you have surgery of course, you should follow your individual health practitioner’s advice for your recovery.

I just wanted to share some information I thought might be helpful.

You might also be interested in an article about nutrition after surgery by Elizabeth George, a dietician with Temple Health.

References

Brognano. E. (2024). Are You Using Heat and Ice Properly? Tufts Now. Available at https://now.tufts.edu/2024/05/15/are-you-using-heat-and-ice-properly

George, E. (2024). Six Post-Surgery Nutrition Tips. Temple Health. Available at https://www.templehealth.org/about/blog/6-tips-for-good-nutrition-after-surgery

Inverarity, L. (2024). How Long to Ice an Injury. Verywell Health. Available at https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-long-should-you-ice-an-injury-2696108