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Ice Pack Therapy Essay

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Juliet Elenwo Article #3 Group Topic 26th April, 2016 Comparing the Antiswelling and Analgesic Effects of Three Different Ice Pack Therapy Durations: A Randomized Controlled Trial on Cases with Soft Tissue Injuries The purpose of examine and explore the analgesic and anti-swelling effects of three different ice pack therapy durations on injuries on soft tissue along with the discomfort of the patients. Notoriously, ice packs have been used as treatment for soft tissue injuries, but no studies have been done to show which ice therapy is the most effective and has lasting duration. Cryotherapy is a method used frequently in all clinical settings to manage sprains, strains, swelling acquired during sport injuries. Very little study has been done on the discomfort triggered by ice packs, hence this study focuses on exploring the anti-swelling, analgesic, and discomfort of different ice packs in order to propose an ideal ice pack therapy. Random block assignments were used to assign 99 participants; 33 in each group randomly during 10, 20, and 30 minute intervals. Participants …show more content…

Study results show that 10 minutes application of ice pack therapy can dramatically drop skin temperature while reliving pain and swelling in the participants. However, increasing the time duration of the ice pack therapy doesn’t prolong the effect of the various areas; along with discomfort and numbness not increasing, it is probable that increasing ice pack therapy for greater than 30 minutes, discomfort and numbness could arise. Due to the limitation on time, in the future the study should follow up 2-3 days after the ice therapy session so record subsequent changes in swelling, pain numbness or discomfort. Also a measurement on the temperature recover and pain reoccurrence would be able to establish an optimal recommended time duration for the ice therapy application

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