Ice or heat?

[Pablo23]

Hi, just a quick question to see what the general concensus is as to wether its best to use ice packs or heat packs on a knee injury?, ive been training in Karate for a couple of years and the last few months my knee has been uncomfortable sfter training, last night was the worse and today i cant bear my weight on the bent knee, gradings are in a fortnight so im desperate to find the quickest most effective action to get me through it, any advice would be apreciated.

Many thanks. Pablo.

[ewenm]

Go see a sports physio.

Ice is generally used to reduce swelling - do you have any swelling/obvious inflamation?

[Pablo23]

Thanks for the reply, no there is no swelling or inflamation just an unstable painful joint, i had a sports massage on my calves, hamstrings and quads the day before training and i just hope relaxing the muscles has`nt compounded the problem.

Cheers, Pablo.

[bales]

Not sure whether it is the same for your knee depending on what the injury is but for muscle pulls/strains then it is ice then heat in that order. So both.

Ice reduces the swelling and the heat then gets the blood pumping through the muscle to help repair.

[Pablo23]

Thanks again,just iced the joint for a couple of hours so i will try some heat next. I wil have to make sure i defrost thoroughly before cooking!!

[bales]

Pablo23 said:

Thanks again,just iced the joint for a couple of hours so i will try some heat next. I wil have to make sure i defrost thoroughly before cooking!!

Couple of hours

If I have had a very very tough session I will run a cold bath, jump in and sit there for maybe about 1 to 2 min - depending how long I can bear the pain!

Then jump in a hot shower...

Like I say though your problem might not be muscular so a physio would be the best bit if it keeps bothering you.

[Pablo23]

Thanks Alex, a bag of frozen peas and looking on PH and the time flys by! i think its a trip to the docs.

Cheers Pablo.