How Do Ice Packs Reduce Swelling?

3 January 2023

From bruises to breaks, cold therapy can be fantastic for a variety of pain and injuries. By applying an ice pack to the affected area, you can simultaneously relieve pain and discomfort while also helping to reduce inflammation and speed up the healing process.

In this How Do Ice Packs Reduce Swelling guide, we go over how ice packs can help with pain and swelling, what injuries they can help with, as well as how to use them. We also talk about some of our favourite ice packs and how they could help you.

How Do Ice Packs Work?

Ice therapy, also known as cryotherapy or cold therapy, is the process during which pain is alleviated by applying ice or a similar cold object. By icing the injured limb for a set amount of time, it provides the following benefits:

Reduced Swelling: When applied to the injury, the ice pack decreases the blood flow to the area. In turn, this reduces the swelling or inflammation, relieving pain while allowing your body to focus on restoration.
Numbing Effect: The cold temperature of the ice pack numbs the surrounding area, which means that you're less susceptible to feeling the pain. This makes it more comfortable for you while the injury continues to heal.

Simply put, ice packs reduce swelling by numbing the pain and reducing blood flow to decrease the inflammation. Together this helps to relieve the discomfort and encourage healing.

Our Top Ice Pack for Targeted Relief

Dura Soft Ice Packs

Ice packs that are designed to conform to specific parts of your body can offer targeted cold therapy for more effective treatment. Dura Soft Ice Packs include a range of ice wraps specifically designed for your foot, ankle, shoulder and knee, as well as a universal model. With Dura Packs, there's no need to awkwardly hold the ice pack to the affected area, the straps do the work for you!

Ice packs that conform to the injured area
offer more targeted cold therapy

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Our Top Ice Pack for Cold/Hot Therapy

Ultimate Performance Reusable Hot/Cold Packs

Opting for a hot and cold pack allows you to apply cold therapy to acute injuries, and heat therapy to non-inflammatory injuries, depending on your issue. They can also be used together, as cold and hot alternating therapy can be fantastic for reducing inflammation, while also keeping your muscles loose. These Ultimate Performance Reusable Hot/Cold Packs are really versatile and will leave you prepared for most minor injuries.

Reusable hot and cold packs offer easy and convenient alternating therapy

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Our Top Ice Pack for Cold Compression Therapy

Aircast Cryo Cuffs

For some more serious injuries or medical conditions, a combination of cold therapy and compression can be really beneficial. The Aircast Cryo Cuff range is designed to conform to specific parts of your body for optimal benefit, and operate similarly to a blood pressure monitor, with a motorised unit that adjusts the compression. Using a portable bucket cooler, the Aircast Cryo Cuffs can offer up to a massive 8 hours of cold therapy.

The Aircast Cryo Cuff offers motorised
cold compression therapy

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What Pain Can I Treat with Ice Packs?

Ice packs are a reliable choice for treating a wide range of injuries and conditions, but are most effective for newer injuries, where swelling is usually at its most prominent. Ice packs work best for acute injuries, which occur suddenly. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

Bruises
Fractures
Sprains (e.g. ankle sprain, wrist sprain)
Strains (e.g. muscle strain, tendon strain)
Tendonitis

How Long Should I Apply the Ice For?

Ice should not be applied to the injured area for more than 20 minutes at a time. It is advised that this is done either once an hour for 20 minutes, or to apply it for 20 minutes and then rest for 20 minutes.

Put Your Pain on Ice

Whether you've had a small knock playing sport or you're recovering from a serious operation like a knee replacement, cold therapy can be really helpful. Hopefully you won't need to use an ice pack any time soon, but if you do then we hope you've found this guide useful.

If you have any questions about our ice packs, please don't hesitate to let us know in the comments, or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Tags: Ankle Pain, Cold Therapy, Health and Care Expert Series, Rehabilitation