The Use of Ice Packs for Injuries

Athletes have come to be best friends with ice. Injuries occur all the time when you are playing sports. We are taught that the first step to treating an injury is to apply ice to the pain. The only problem is you don’t always have direct access to ice. We have solved this issue by creating instant ice packs. These are made of a mixture of chemicals and water. My question is which brand of ice pack works the best? Do the ones containing Ammonium Nitrate work better than those containing Urea, or vice versa? Is just keeping a cooler of ice a better option?
Icing a small injury can be a very effective short term treatment. Cold treatments decrease swelling, numb pain, and can limit internal bleeding. Icing doesn’t have to last for a specific time and depending on the injury and person the length of your icing should vary. One way I know when to be done icing is CBAN. C stands for cooling. You should first feel the coolness. Next will come the burning and the aching. Finally you should feel numb. The numbness is the key that you can remove the coolant. Even after the icing has been completed you continue to get benefits. “Intramuscular temperature continues to drop after the modality has been removed. Results of various studies are consistent on the effects on neuromuscular and pain process”, (Meeusen R, Livens P, 1986). When an injury occurs you also should always remember RICE. Rice stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Rest helps keeping the injured body part from overworking and straining ever more. The ice, as said before has many benefits, and can even help the injury heal faster. Compression will keep most swelling down as well as giving support to the injury. Finally Elevation is another way to keep swelling dow...

... middle of paper ...

...rporation, C. (n.d.). What Are the Different Uses of Urea?. In Wisegeek.org. Retrieved March 18, 2014, from http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-different-uses-of-urea.htm
Formaldehyde’s Many Applications (n.d.). In Formacare. Retrieved March 18, 2014, from http://www.formacare.org/index.php?page=applications
Physical Properties of Urea (n.d.). In Urea Mineral Data. Retrieved March 19, 2014, from http://webmineral.com/data/Urea.shtml
Physical and Chemical Properties (2001, January 16). In Material Safety Data Sheet. Retrieved March 19, 2014, from http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/msds/nh4no3.htm
Chemicals Used in a Cold Pack (n.d.). In Livestrong. Retrieved March 19, 2014, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/150747-chemicals-used-in-a-cold-pack/
Ammonium Chloride (n.d.). In iastate. Retrieved March 19, 2014, from http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/msds/nh4cl.htm