Ice bath

Whilst treating a previous injury I've used a small ice bath for my foot, which is easy enough as I can use a washing up bowl. However now I'm treating a potenital injury that covers / moves around on a daily basis round my calves / shin. As well as using foam rollers / frozen peas on affected area I tried out a cold bath this morning after my run to immerse the whole lower leg (as well as my upper legs). I then had a shower straight away as I'm a bit pushed for time and getting out of the bath to warm up and then have a shower is impractical.

I assume that tap water at this time of year will be cold enough to be beneficial?
Should I go straight in to the ice bath as soon as possible after finishing exercise? Today I stretched, had breakfast and coffee before getting in to the bath.
Will having a shower immediately afterwards undo all the good work or actually help to stimulate the blood flow?

Any thoughts / knowledge feedback much appreciated, thanks,

Will B

What I do is fill up the bath and throw a few ice cubes in before I go for a run then as soon as I get back and before I lose my nerve I get in!! It's still very cold (I hate the cold). I then have a warm shower straight after as you said it stimulates the blood flow that flushes out the toxins. It works for me :-) hope that helps.

I've heard that some people have a bucket/bin/tub in their back garden full of water....obviously the colder the temperature is the colder the water will be! In winter the ice on top might need breaking before submerging your legs!!

I just use the garden hose to wash legs and aid recovery after running. if legs not dirty I'll just use shower on cold, but the garden hose is much more effective.

Not sure about timing, I always do it as soon as possible on my return home.

Out of interest is there some logical science to Ice Packs/baths, etc?

A physio told me that ice is too cold, whereas the ice bath is a bit warmer so stimulates the vasoconstriction(?) to reduce swelling but is warm enough to still allow blood to circulate (i think).

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Originally Posted by DrPatrickBarry

Out of interest is there some logical science to Ice Packs/baths, etc?

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An ice bath increases your hardness rating to 10 if you happen to be featured on a Top Trump card :D

On a more serious note I have found them to be beneficial for recovery (is it all in the mind???) but have found that jumping straight in after a long run can leave me feeling sick/faint/decidedly green so have ended up lying on the bathroom floor, but I do tend to be a bit of a fainter anyway, TT rating 0 :confused:

I tend just to run the bath at this time of year, it feels cold enough to me.

I have been going to the river Wharfe after training runs and been putting my swollen ankle that i sprained a few weeks ago on a training run, and that as done it a world of good in getting the swelling down:wink: