Ice!!!

[Rach41]

Well have to be honest I was never told to ice as a form of pain relief when i left hospital on Friday and it is only from reading all yr advice raving about using Ice. Well it is amazing! Had my staples out this afternoon and one of them was picking a bit when I was walking. I have used ice on it only for 10 mins and it was 100 percent better. My leg and foot was quite swollen which only came out today 6 days post op. I elevated my leg on a pillow whilst laying on my bed for an hour and swelling did come down for a bit! How long does this swelling last and how long should u keep ice on wound obviously in a cloth and how often.

Thanks Rach

[Dannywayoflife]

You will find ice is really useful for a long time yet! I remember asking the 2 idiot physios in hospital what sort of ice regimine i should be using when i got home and they bith said dont bothe rice is useless!!! >:( What idiots!!! Surfice to say i used it and its great at both pain releaf and inflamation reduction

[hernanu]

Hi Rach, I used ice liberally the first few months. A few rules for using it, to avoid frostbite:

• make sure there's no direct contact, use cloth or a towel as a buffer.
• Ice for at most 15 minutes , stop and rest the area for about the same time or maybe 20 minutes
• Repeat the above as often as needed. The first few weeks, I repeated it as often as possible.

Ice is your friend, use it liberally. As long as you take the precautions to avoid frostbite, it is very good.

[David]

I'm at 8 months post-op and doing very well.
Still ice after activity.
Just came back from from my best (9 mile) run to date.
Ice packs in front and back pockets as I'm working...

[Woodstock Hippy]

I'm at six months, after my run this morning, which was not as good as David's, I got right on the ice for 15 minutes.  I keep 4 zip luck food storage bags of ice in the freezer and use them after almost all workouts.

The funny thing is that heat is also great for you.  After your swelling goes down, use heat before workouts to loosen up.  I used heat every night and every morning and also before workouts while I was still stiff.  Now I don't need the heat, but the ice still helps a lot.

[Dannywayoflife]

Rach41 I see from your signature that you had one of the accis devices. I looked at them before my op but could find very little info about them. Is yours one of the ceramic laminate ones?

[Rach41]

Hi Danny I think so! I thought I was going to have the Birmingham one but I did trust his expert opinion. Apparently the Birmingham resurfacings which fail tend to be with women. I saw his nurse specialist who told me I had the same device as him and he had his resurfacing done 18 months ago. He has worked with Mr Woodnutt for over 10 years in theatre so I found it quite comforting to have the same. I will find out more when I see him in clinic. Rach

[Dannywayoflife]

That would be interesting rach please let us know any decent info you can get.

[johnd_emd]

Oh yeah, ICE, ICE, ICE!!!!!!