Should ATs Stop Icing Injuries and Sore Muscles?

An article from last March's Squat University created some conversation around the Healthy Roster office this week and we wanted to get the opinion of athletic trainers. 

What created a buzz for us was the author's declaration that we should not use ice to treat athletic injuries and sore muscles. 

For most people involved in sports—or any athletic activity really—ice has always been the go-to treatment for sprained ankles, sore knees, or any injury where swelling and pain is present. 

Here's an excerpt from the article: 

Ice is not what you think it is. It is not helping the healing process from injury and in fact an overwhelming amount of research shows it does the opposite! Other than temporarily numbing the sensation of pain, ice delays healing and recovery. 

The author goes on to quote a statement from Dr. Gabe Mirkin (the man who invented the RICE protocol) who wrote in the forward of the 2nd edition of the book of "Iced! The Illusionary Treatment Option” by Gary Rein: 

“Subsequent research shows that ice can actually delay recovery. Mild movement helps tissue to heal faster, and the application of cold suppresses the immune responses that start and hasten recovery. Icing does help suppress pain, but athletes are usually far more interested in returning as quickly as possible to the playing field. So, today, RICE is not the preferred treatment for an acute athletic injury.”

Check out the complete article on Squat University. 

We asked the in-house ATCs at Healthy Roster what they thought of the article. 

"I tend to agree actually. I’d use ice as an AT really for deep tissue manipulation rather than inflammatory purposes and post surgical so I could get more out of the athlete because they knew Ice was coming.
- Niki Budd , Customer Support Specialist/ATC at Healthy Roster

"I agree as well. Except for acute ankle injuries that you could tell were bad. I would almost always throw ice on those."
- Maggie Mancini, Customer Support Specialist/ATC at Healthy Roster

Should ice be the treatment for injuries and soreness? 

We would love to hear your thoughts! 

UPDATE: 

Here are the results from an survey we conducted this week. 75% said no to icing injuries + sore muscles: