How To Ice Your Knee

The Most Common Knee Injuries For Basketball Players

Often ballers will complain of knee pain when jumping or landing. Others may complain of knee pain after basketball training or games. If you are experiencing any of these painful symptoms it is likely that you have one or more of the following 4 most common knee injuries that basketball players sustain.

By Mysid , via Wikimedia Commons

• Sprains & Strains – damage to the tendons and ligaments that connect and support the knee joint.
• Meniscal Tears- damage to the rubbery protective layers that line the inside of the knee joint.
• ACL, MCL and LCLRuptures- A complete tear of one of the supporting ligaments of the knee.
• Patella Tendonitis- inflammation and damage to the tendon that attaches your knee cap to your shin bone and quadriceps tendon.

Derrick Rose unfortunatly never lived up to his potential after sustaining a serious ACL tear

Some of these common knee injuries experienced on the court can be easily rehabilitated with light rest and recovery exercises.

However, there are more brutal knee injuries such a the dreaded ACL tear that has destroyed the careers of many prominent basketball players.

Are You Worried About Sustaining an ACL tear?

If you are concerned about the possibility of sustaining a career ending ACL tear you should definitely check out this helpful information on deceleration training . This style of training has been shown to greatly decrease the likelihood of athletes sustaining ACL injuries.

What Does Ice Do

When you injure a body part, your body goes through the inflammatory process to help heal the tissue. Hallmarks of inflammation include:

• Increased tissue temperature
• Pain
• Swelling

And guess what? Your body is really good at sending blood and cells to an injured body part to heal it. Almost too good. That’s why we use ice to control swelling and pain.

When ice is applied to your body, it causes vasoconstriction, which limits blood flow to a specific body part. That limited circulation helps to keep swelling down. The ice also helps to decrease pain signals that you may be feeling after your injury.

Those Whove Had A Knee Replacement

With a knee replacement, you will want to be sure to elevate your leg while icing. This helps cut down swelling and inflammation, which speeds up healing. While icing, lay on your back and prop your surgical leg with 3 or more pillows. DO NOT put pillows directly under your knee as this cause stiffness . Pillows should prop your heel. When icing, keep your knee as straight as possible. Your surgical leg must be elevated higher than your heart.

• Once elevated, ice you 15-20 minutes at a time.
• Wrap ice in a tea towel, t-shirt, or thin cloth. DO NOT apply directly to skin .
• Repeat icing at least 3-4 times a day. If you think you would benefit from icing more frequently, ask your doctor if this is a good idea.

How long to ice a knee after knee replacement surgery? Its important to keep icing daily in the first 90 days of surgery and beyond. As long as you have pain and swelling, icing is a great tool to overcome these recovery setbacks.

Also Check: Why Does My Knee Hurt When It’s Cold

Our Knee Therapy Formula Isproven To Work

It may seem hard to believe, but our TShellz Wraps® home therapy devices & accessory products will assist you in recovering from your injury by reducing your swelling and inflammation induced pain, maximizing blood flow where it’s needed most, and increasing the flexibility / range of motion of your knee with consistent stretching.

Here at AidMyMeniscus we pride ourselves in helping you with your healing and recovery process. Everyone at AidMyMeniscus has tested and used the products, finding solutions to conditions that do not fit into the norm. This dedication to our customers and our products goes hand-in-hand with our guarantees to you as a customer:

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Homemade Ice Pack Salt

A homemade ice pack with salt results in a slush-like substance that can be effective for icing after knee replacement surgery. Salt decreases the temperature needed to freeze water and adding a few tablespoons to water will make the perfect ice pack that can be used again and again.

To make the salt ice pack add 2 tablespoons of salt to 2 cups of water. For a gallon sized zip-lock use 3 cups water and 3 tablespoons of salt. Place the zip-lock bag inside another zip-lock bag to make sure nothing will leak and youve got a DIY ice pack for knee replacement rehab.

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When To Use Cold On A Meniscus Injury:

A Cold Compress or Ice Pack work best to relieve pain, swelling and inflammation for new injuries, re-injury and during immediate post surgery recovery. Cold therapy should also be used during the first 24 – 72 hours of treatment, combined with resting your injury.

If you’ve been suffering for some time with a chronic meniscus injury you should only use cold after activity causes you more pain or triggers more inflammatory response symptoms . This would be when your knee starts to hurt at the end of the day after you’ve been on your feet, active in athletics, or performing any other tasks that has put a lot of weight or stress on your menisci. When used at this time cold compression becomes a natural / organic pain reliever, treating the site where you feel the pain.

COLD is used to treat injuries or conditions that are red, hot, inflamed, swollen and suffering from tissue damage . Cold therapy is a natural / organic pain reliever that numbs pain right at the source of your injury. While doing this, the cold also stops tissue break-down and reduces the amount of scar tissue forming .

In the medical world this is something called ‘Vasoconstriction’.

Sometimes we feel pain while doing a certain activity – should you still use cold? Too much cold therapy can reduce your ability to heal correctly, because cold is a short term pain reliever not a deep tissue healer.

Cold should be used:

Here are a couple of examples for when to use cold :

Has Knee Pain Impacted Your Daily Activities

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Reviews For Wrist Ice Wrap

I received some lifesaving I.C.E. DOWNS and forgot to thank-you. I have been an avid user and believer in ice for years and I.C.E. DOWN is perfect. Getting older and still competing aggressively sometimes makes life painful. My routine during tennis season is to put it on my wrists in the morning on my way to work.the same after work on my way to the tennis courts to train and finally in the evenings on the way home. It is great preventative magic as I finished as the top women’s open player in the U.S.

What’s Better To Treat A Meniscus Tear: Ice Or Heat

Ice and heat are the best treatment combination for you if:

• You want to increase the natural ability of your body to heal a soft tissue injury.
• You want to reduce the pain and/or swelling of your recent soft tissue injury naturally.
• You want to minimize the cost of injections, medications, hospital visits or surgery.
• You want to minimize excess damage, and as such, minimize the time needed for long-term healing
• You want to try and halt the downward spiral of a continually worsening meniscus injury.
• You want to reduce the risk of secondary injuries that long term meniscus tears can bring .
• You want to control your own treatment and recovery at home, on your own time.
• You’re looking for tried and tested methods of healing that have been used for centuries and have worked for countless others that have suffered a soft tissue injury.

Combining cold and warmth is a simple yet effective way to get immediate pain relief and promote long-term healing. In your lifetime you’ve probably had your mom, family doctor, nurse, surgeon or PT tell you to use ice right after you’re injured and something warm from time to time once the swelling’s gone down. It’s a simple yet very effective way to relieve pain and promote healing in your knee.

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How To Ice Knee After Replacement

Knee replacement surgery is an intense, invasive procedure. It requires a big incision, and the surgeon will surgically remove bone and cartilage. He digs around in the knee to take out the bad tissue and then replaces the tissue with an artificial knee.

So icing your knee after knee replacement is critical to healing.

Many people will either rent, borrow, or buy an ice machine.

This machine has a sleeve that wraps around the knee. A tube stretches from the sleeve to an ice machine. The machine then pumps iced water through the tube and into the sleeve, keeping the ice water circulating so the knee is both compressed and iced at the same time.

Because you have the barrier of the sleeve, the question regarding how long to ice knee injuries no longer applies as much. You can keep the machine on your leg for a longer duration than if you had just a basic ice pack.

You will have to wear a knee brace for at least six weeks after you get your knee replaced. Even as you wear a brace, you will want to ice your knee. Compress, elevate, and ice that knee exactly like your doctor tells you to.

Once you have an ice machine like this in the house, you will find you can use it in multiple ways. You can use it when treating arthritis pain in your knee or shoulder.

How Long Should I Ice My Knee After Knee Replacement Surgery

One question you might be asking is how long should I ice my knee after surgery. If youre like me, swelling will occur most within 2-3 weeks of surgery and less-so from 3-6 months. Early on, icing is a great way to reduce inflammation and pain.

Most doctors will recommend icing your knee 3-4 times a day. 3-4 times per day for the first 2-3 weeks should be relatively simple because your mobility will be limited. After a few weeks, inflammation will gradually reduce, but icing can still work great to naturally decrease inflammation and pain.

If possible, plan to ice your knee daily for months after TKR surgery. Icing will be of value years later too after exercising. If you can make it part of your daily routine it would be smart .

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So Do You Use Heat Or Ice For Knee Pain

The answer to this question depends on the main problem you have, as well as the location of the pain around your knee.

The first question to ask yourself is this: Is my main problem PAIN or STIFFNESS?

The second question is: Is my main problem area my MUSCLES or my JOINT?

Lets talk about each scenario one by one

Avoid Jumpers Knee & Acl Injuries This Season

If you want to prolong your career for as long as possible it is very important to learn how to strengthen your knees for basketball.

In fact, there are many other factors beyond strength that can impact the health of your knee joints over your basketball career.

Building not only absolute strength but also stability, power and mobility around the knee joint can greatly reduce the chance of injuring your knee while playing basketball.

Of course there are many potential ways to injure your knees while playing basketball. Some are unavoidable.

However, in the following article I am going to show you how to best care for your knees this basketball season, and hopefully for many more to come.

How To Strengthen Knees For Basketball. By BallTillWeFall. Last Updated March 29, 2018 1:50 PM

Earning Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means the team at BallTillWeFall.com earns a small commission if you decide to purchase products through these links. The price is the same for you though. In some cases you may even receive a discount. Your support is very much appreciated. Keep Ballin’.

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Avoid Common Mistakes When Icing Your Knee

The purpose of icing the knee is pain relief. That being said, a sore knee requires attention and treatment, as opposed to icing only. When icing the knee, be sure to place a thin cover, such as a sheet, between the ice and the knee if your skin is sensitive.

In addition, it is important to elevate your leg while icing the knee, in order to relieve the sensation of gravity on the limb as much as possible. Depending on the condition of the knee, elevating often relieves pain to a significant degree.

It is also important not to leave ice on too long. Ice melts in contact with warm skin, leading to moisture build up.

Skin may begin to macerate, or prune, and superficial irritation may cause further discomfort. Finally, it is vital listen to your body. A knee is most likely in pain due to specific physical and emotional conditions.

Perhaps your muscles are tight, leading to uncomfortable movements and strains around the knee over time. In addition, absence of physical activity deprives the body of opportunities to circulate blood around the knee and replenish the tissues.

The point is that your knee is letting you know that some part of your program isnt working. It is important to begin moving your knee is ways that dont hurt, and actually feel good. Simple exercises can be performed on a bed or in a chair, that will reduce pain help you understand the nature of your discomfort.

Ice Or Heat For An Injury: What Is Better

The debate over which is better for an injury, ice or heat, has been at the forefront for years. However, it is important to understand that icing and heating can help the recovery process.The R.I.C.E. therapy method is successful because it uses both icing and heating to heal injuries.

• REST: Take a prolonged break from the activity that caused the injury and rest your knee.
• ICE: Use a cooling agent to ice the injured knee for at least 10 minutes three times a day.
• COMPRESSION: In addition to icing, it is important to use hot compression on the injured area. This will help reduce swelling and increase blood flow to the area after icing.
• ELEVATION: Elevate your injured knee above the level of your heart and ice the injury while doing so.

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When To Use Ice For Joint Pain

For the most part, ice is appropriate to use within 48 hours of an acute injury or a flare-up of joint pain that comes with inflammation, experts explain. Examples include tendinitis, bursitis, soft tissue injuries, and inflamed joints, Dr. Bose says.

How to Use Ice for Joint Pain

The rule of thumb for icing down an inflamed area is up to 10 minutes on, followed by about 10 minutes off, several times if needed. Dont put ice or a cold pack directly on the skin, unless the cold pack has a built-in barrier, to prevent skin damage. Pay attention to how your body is responding to the cold. Listen to your body, Dr. Bose says. I tell my patients: Use an ice pack, put it on the knee, and once it starts getting uncomfortable, give it a break.

Types of Ice Therapy

You have a lot of options when it comes to icing a joint. At-home solutions like filling a plastic bag with ice cubes and a little water, using a bag of frozen vegetables, or putting a damp towel in the freezer are time-tested for a reason. You can purchase gel packs and other types of cold packs at drugstores or supermarkets. Whatever method you choose, use something large enough to cover the whole area where the pain is located, Dr. Smith says.

Safety with Ice Therapy

What Is The Correct Technique To Ice Your Knee

The best way to use ice therapy is by time intervals of 10 minutes. So, you should only apply ice for 10 minutes, then remove the cold compress for a while. You can repeat the process after a time, but leaving the ice in your knee sometimes causes a type of skin injury known as frostbite, which features skin damage when blood flow is not continuous in the skin. It doesnt happen to everyone, but 10 minutes are recommended to make sure it wont happen to you. After leaving your knee for a few minutes, and when it feels back to its normal temperature and feel, you can resume applying ice 10 more minutes, and keep doing that several times a day.

Every individual is different, and microcirculation behaves differently in each one of us. So, the recommendation of 10 minutes is usually appropriate but may be too much for some people. How do you know? You can simply keep track of ice packs effects on your knee by staying alert to body sensations.

When you use an ice pack on your knee or any other body part, heres what you should feel:

Something you can do to cover a larger area is an ice massage. This would also contribute by not letting ice sit in the same spot for a very long time, which further reduces the risk of frostbite.

Also, if you want to accelerate the process, elevate your injured leg. This will help your veins return blood circulation to the heart faster, which improves swelling and helps you recover more quickly.

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