Ankle sprain: cold or hot? by Victory Endurance

Our Partner Victory Endurance, he sends us an article about this typical lesión What happens during the race trainings, we hope you find it useful.

We have all had a look for the typical ankle sprain and it is key to know how to act immediately and during the first days to minimize the effects of the injury and favor the recuperación. In this sense some criteria defend the application of heat, others however bet on the cold. Let's see what is more interesting.

Most are caused by inversion (inward twist). The structures that are injured most often are the three lateral ligaments of the ankle joint. In some cases they become recurrent and chronic. In this sense, the first interventions to reduce inflammation are crucial in the evolution

Research shows that the cold is the great winner in these first hours. Several studies compared the effects of heat and cold by randomly choosing people who attended sports clinics with spinal cord to receive one or the other treatment in addition to an analgesic, such as ibuprofen.

Thus, it was found that an immediate therapy with ice helped return to the activities earlier without feeling discomfort. People with more severe injuries (such as torn ligaments) who followed an ice treatment reached the recovery in 13 days, while those that were treated with heat took twice as long to recover.
Therefore, to obtain the best results, specialists recommend in these early hours protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation.

Recommendations for first aid:

- Ice should only be applied in batches of 20 minutes every two hours.
- Apply it during the first 48 hours
- An adhesive (better) or elastic bandage can be applied to apply compression. The bandage must be 2 or 3 days
- Place your foot up, avoid standing.
- After 48 hours the contrast baths are usually favorable
- Begin to mobilize as soon as possible, avoid adhesions and improve blood flow

(By Domingo Sánchez)