I have always disagreed with the overwhelming majority of the rehabilitation community with regard to the use of two of the most popular modalities of injury management: ICE and ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS.
I believe that the use of these modalities is a perfect example of treating the symptoms rather than the underlying problem.
Ice and anti-inflammatory drugs reduce inflammation, which is a symptom of tissue damage. However, neither modality contributes to the healing of injured tissue. I believe, therefore, that the directive to combat the inflammation associated with acute injury is largely misguided, and possibly detrimental to the healing process.
Inflammation is natural response to injury that serves several purposes. Principally, inflammation causes pain. When a particular tissue is inflamed, the pain discourages you from stressing the associated structures, thereby forcing you to rest until the injury is healed. When you suppress inflammation using ice and/or anti-inflammatory drugs, you undermine this protective mechanism and expedite the removal of pain without improving tissue repair, thus creating a false sense of recovery and allowing yourself to return to activity before the injured issue is fully healed. This, I expect, may increase the likelihood of re-injury.
Additionally, inflammation associated with acute injury may serve to improve circulation and nutrient delivery to the injury site. Therefore, the suppression of inflammation may actually disrupt the healing process.
I suggest that rather than using ice and anti-inflammatory drugs in order to resume training as soon as humanly possible, injured runners should simply stay off their feet and allow nature to fully run its course, and not return to activity before complete healing has occurred. Modalities that promote healing and regeneration such as ultrasound, EMS, rehabilitative exercise, etc. are compatible with this philosophy.