Physical Therapy in Flint, MI

 Cold therapy or cryotherapy is a method of healing that exposes the body to cold for a couple of minutes. Cold therapy aims to help muscles recover after strenuous exercise, surgical procedure, or injury. Applying the cold to the injured areas reduces blood flow to that specific area. Reducing blood flow to injured areas helps reduce inflammation, nerve activity, and swelling; this, in turn, relieves pain in muscles, joints, and tendons. Cold therapy can be as simple as frozen vegetables or more intentional with an ice pack or a cold therapy unit. 

 Compression therapy uses items like bandages, compression socks, stockings, or boots to apply pressure on your foot. Compression therapy has been helping for thousands of years since the Hippocrates of ancient Greece. Compression therapy immensely increases blood flow in your legs through controlled pressure, which improves blood flow to your heart. 

 Cold compression therapy is the best of both worlds. By combining cold therapy with compression, you can effectively speed up recovery times post-surgery or injury as well as reduce overall pain and swelling. 

 Cold Compression machines work by inflating a wrap designed to fit a specific area of the body to the desired pressure, holding it for a few seconds before releasing and re-inflating. Intermittent compression is more effective than static compression simply because it moves the blood more effectively, pushing the swelling out of your system. By pushing blood throughout your body, the injured area receives more oxygen-rich blood to promote healing. 

 IMPROVE POST-SURGERY RECOVERY

After surgery, most doctors recommend cold therapy with compression to help reduce swelling. By reducing swelling, your body will actually be able to recover more quickly and effectively. Some studies show that managing swelling post-surgery can reduce your overall recovery time by half.

Have you ever pushed yourself so much in the gym and needed time off to recover from the soreness and pain? If so, you don’t need to do so every time because it will waste your time, especially if you have goals to gain muscle. Using cold therapy and compression when your muscles feel sore will help you come on top by recovering quickly. This therapy will ensure you keep attending your gym sessions without taking days off. This secret is why you always see MLB pitchers with massive ice packs wrapped around areas of injury.

Cold therapy with compression is a great way to deal with mild injuries like bruises, sprains, and other tweaks. This form of therapy can heal ankle sprains in about a week, when it usually may take up to ten days for the healing to occur. If you want quick recovery, it is best to combine these two forms of therapies.

When using cold therapy, it is best to put safety first. For example, you should always have a barrier between your skin and the pad to prevent your skin from getting burnt or possibly frostbite. Many cold therapy units offer additional skin barriers for purchase, but we have found that putting the pad on the outside of your clothing or using a thin towel will work just fine. Also, don’t apply cold therapy to the affected area for too long because it will damage your nerves which is a dire problem compared to a quick recovery.