Why do we ice injuries / what's wrong with swelling?

Question

Whenever you get a nasty bruise, twist or sprain a muscle, we get told to put ice on it, to reduce the swelling.

But if the body makes injuries swell up as part of the healing process, the swelling should be beneficial, to help the injury heal.
If so why do we try to surpress it?

Answer 1

Swelling is not part of the healing process -- the swelling is what causes pain, which is what alerts you that you are hurt, and can help you stay off the injured part of your body until it heals properly. The swelling goes down once you're better.

Because we live the way we do, we have no need to be alerted of our injuries (ie be in pain) because we have casts and x-rays, and all that stuff. The ice reduces inflammation and, therefore, reduces pain -- and we have our doctors to tell us when we're better!

Answer 2

Swelling is the body's inflammatory reaction to injury. Swelling obstructs good blood flow to the area and inhibits motion. Applying ice will decrease the inflammation, in addition to elevating the area and taking an anti-inflammatory drug, such as motrin or advil.
A bruise is the body's reaction to the trauma of having a blood vessel broken and leaking under the tissues. This is simply a reaction and not a part of healing. Applying ice first for about 20 minutes several times a day over 72 hours will decrease the pain, swelling. Applying heat to a bruise later will help increase the circulation and reabsorb the cells.

Answer 3

I shattered my ankle 4 months ago. I asked the Physical Therapist this same question 2 days ago. I am still wrapping the ankle to reduce swelling and am icing several times a day. He said swelling has no benefit, and actually causes more damage to tissue and healing as it reduces blood flow. The initial injury swelled so bad I eventually lost 7 layers of skin which I would not wish on anyone.

Answer 4

The swelling is to immobilise the injured region to prevent the injury getting worse. The swelling can also cause tissue damage, its a trade off that the body gets right if we dont nurse or artificially treat an injury. That is protect the area or put a dressing on it to do the same job as the swelling.
For sprains a tight elastic bandage is used, for broken bones a splint or cast does the job.
So, its not just putting ice on it, you also do something to replace the immobilising effect of swelling

Answer 5

You already have some excellent answers .... "swelling is just a reaction" and swelling is not necessarily beneficial .... except in the case of a traumatic amputation where it stops the hemorrhaging , bleeding, and saves your life ... cause you can bleed to death in less than three minutes.

So, swelling is good sometimes but bad usually unless the injury is extreme.

A smaller wound is hurt by swelling ... it brings unneeded fluids to the healthy cells and causes damage.

Swelling is the body's natural response to trauma, but when we understand ... it's an extreme response and most of the time we don't need it.

Shock is also a natural response but it can kill you!

Answer 6

Swelling makes it hurt more because it pushes on things nearby. I've heard swelling described as your body overreacting, basically that when you're injured, your body needs some extra blood and immune cells to repair the damage, but not nearly as much as your body sends, and all that extra stuff is what causes swelling, and just kind of generally jams things up around the injury.

Also, keep in mind that a fever is also a natural body response but a very high fever can kill you (it basically cooks your brain - not a nice image).

Answer 7

Applying ice to any form of swelling literally restricts the amount of blood that enters the damaged tissue. Hence, limiting the amount of bleeding. Caution should be taken though if you are diabetic as it can affect blood circulation. (but if your diabetic, you probably already know that, sorry ). PS-Swelling is not part of the healing process, but a symptom of the damaged tissue.

Answer 8

The swelling isn't part of the healing process, its just a reaction. Swelling causes pain. Icing it reduces the pain while it heals itself.

Answer 9

Swelling is caused by excess fluid building up around something, it is a type of inflammation. Too much fluid going to the organ can be fatal (only like once in every billion) and it uses blood which should be going to more important organs, like the Brain or Lungs, more fluid means more space for blood to fill out, which means less blood where you need it most.

Answer 10

Actually swelling can cause more damage and definitely can limit motion.

If we have ways to treat medical problems, why not do it? You could say we should treat nothing as mother nature has created our bodies to heal, but we know that nature doesn't always do it as well on its own as it does with medical help.