Pre OP, How often do you ice?

[ZAP]

I always ice right after I exercise, but I only do it once and I still get extremely sore the next day. The inflammation still kicks in. How often should I ice after my work outs?
Should I do it every hour, 2 hours, 4 etc?  When I ice I do it for about 20 minutes, only because the ice melts by then..

[hernanu]

This is before your procedure, right? I usually iced until the inflamation goes down. Usually for me (before the operations) it meant at least two or three times after being done. 10-20 minutes on, 20 minutes off the ice is the right cycle, since you don't want to damage your skin.

After the operation, I iced pretty much continually during the early weeks using that cycle.

[ZAP]

Seriously before my surgery I had ice on me almost 24/7. I even slept with ice packs.....

T Flippy Hippy

So I guess you can't ice too much?

Was that the right thing to do?  Did it help?

[ctb]

I ice so much I'm looking for an 'I heart ice packs' bumper sticker. 

I was told by my chiropractor to ice 20 minutes on 40 minutes off. 

[obxpelican]

You can make really good ice packs from a 3 parts water 1 part isopropyl alcohol.  Put that mixture in a zip lock bag then put that inside of another.  Works great, you can also use dawn dish detergent too.

Ice is VERY good post op, it relieves the swelling and helps cut the pain.



Chuck