Cold therapy is a popular healing technique that involves exposing the entire body, or parts of the body, to cool water after a trauma. The trauma to the muscles can be either a sports injury, accident, or chronic joint pain that requires daily relief to live a normal life. Cold therapy helps to reduce inflammation and lessen pain, making it easier for the patient to get around during daily life.
Cold therapy can be combined with compression for an effective therapeutic modality for post-surgery patients. If you have a swollen area, inflamed joint, or painful spot due to invasive surgery, such as an elbow or knee, using cold therapy compression can be an effective treatment to reduce swelling, lessen pain, and increase healing speeds, see more about it.
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What Are Cold Therapy?
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People have heard of ice baths before – but have they heard of aircast cryo cuffs? Although athletes, people with minor injuries, and those who are aspiring to become more fit have submerged a joint or two in an ice bath before, this device is not as widely used – but it should be.
An ice bath and other methods are known as cold therapy. These therapy modalities are great at reducing pain, reducing swelling, lessening inflammation, and helping the body heal from trauma. One of the benefits of using cold therapy is recovering from invasive surgery since an aircast cryo cuff can isolate the area that was the focus of the surgery.
By reducing the blood flow to a specific area, this device can successfully reduce inflammation, lessen nerve pain, reduce muscle pain, and prevent swelling, which helps any pain and swelling around joints, muscles, nerves, and tendons. Localized cryotherapy methods, such as a cryocuff, is an easy way to target specific areas and joints.
2017 study findings
There have been numerous studies regarding the effectiveness of cold and compression therapy concerning surgeries, musculoskeletal injuries, and operative procedures. One study was conducted in 2017 and involved analyzing the effectiveness of cold and compression applied immediately after an acute injury or surgery to relieve the patient of unwanted pain.
The findings showed that the pain outcomes were lower for those who used ice and compression after surgery, and the therapy also increased the range of motion. Other results from randomized controlled trials on specific joint areas, such as wrist, shoulder, or knees, found cold compression therapy showed better pain relief than other methods.
2019 study findings
Another study was published in 2019 regarding the effectiveness of cooling strategies on patient recovery after surgery. There are different cooling strategies, such as full-body submersion or localized treatment, but this study focused on investigating the effects of three different methods during the immediate post-op recovery period.
There was a significant reduction in swelling in most patients after using cold therapy after surgery, aligned with a lower painkiller consumption for those using cold therapy.
3 Benefits Of Using An Cryo After Surgery
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There are many benefits to using cold therapy and an cryo cuff after surgery. From everyday muscle relief to targeted pain control due to post-op swelling, cold therapy can work wonders for your physical and mental health.
There are many instances in which cold therapy can help those who are recovering from surgery. Surgery affects the body’s tissues and internal parts, leading to significant swelling and reduced range of motion after the procedure. Cold therapy helps address tissue healing and muscle recovery.
Some surgeries which can benefit from cold therapy include ACL tears, MCL tears, amputation, hand fractures, wrist fractures, joint replacements, spinal surgery, meniscus tear, or rotator cuff repair. Immediately after one of these surgeries, your body will try to repair the tissue itself -but it will not be able to without pain and swelling.
Instead, cold therapy and compression help the body kick start the healing process. By ‘talking’ to the immune system and lymphatic system within the body, cold therapy, and compression help speed up the healing process by enhancing the speed of tissue regrowth.
1. Surgery recovery pain relief
One of the main benefits of using an cryo is the potential for lesser pain and reduced swelling during post-surgical rehabilitation. Cold Therapy effectively reduces pain and controlling swelling in the affected area, such as the knee, shoulder, ankle, or wrist. Therefore, cold therapy shows how using this modality effectively soothing the muscles and tissues after trauma, an accident, or surgery.
2. Less use of pain medication
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One of the following benefits of using cold therapy and compression immediately after invasive surgery is less dependence on pain medication. Instead of popping painkillers to get back to your normal life or just make it to the shower after an ACL tear, using cold therapy compression helps relieve pain in a natural way. By numbing nerve endings and numbing the area, the pain can be subsided, so you can rely less on doctor’s medication.
3. More comfortable than ice packs
When comparing cold therapy compression to ice packs, using this device is much more comfortable than traditional ice packs. Ice packs are hard, bulky, and sharp, making them painful to use on an area that has just been sensitive due to the surgery. Instead of using a traditional ice pack, use a cold therapy compression modality.
Conclusion
Using cold therapy compression is an effective way to treat swelling, reduce inflammation, soothe sore muscles, numb nerve endings, and help patients recover after invasive surgeries. Whether you had an ACL or MCL tear, rotator cuff tear, or wrist fracture, using an this device is a great way to reduce post-op pain.
Since surgery is an invasive procedure that affects your body’s tissues, muscles, and joints, a comprehensive treatment method using cold therapy and compression can help the tissue rebuild quicker and less painfully. By encouraging the lymph system and immune system to speed up the rebuilding process, cold therapy compression helps the body’s natural rebuilding and healing process after trauma.
