Ice Bath

I used to do it after every run but now I only bother after hard workouts. I can't think of how it could be detrimental, except I think you're nuts for goign 42-45 degrees! I like to keep it arount 50. The trainers around here claim anything under 60 is therapeutic, but they haven't proven to be very knowledgeable or reliable so I don't know if it's true. 60 feels like bathwater.

I have done a lot of research regarding ice baths. Most of the trainers at my school know nothing about them, regarding runners, just stupid football heads… I have found that it comes down to personal preference, and how you feel the day after, if you feel well… Do it when ever, if you feel all stiff and “junk like…” Don’t. PS. Also you say that your get it down to the 40’s? That is COLD. I get mine down to like 55 at the most. You may hurt your self if you put it at 40? Ask your trainer or coach if its to cold im not sure but it sounds way to cold….

Enjoy!

I used to do 10-15 minutes in 45-50 degree water daily, and I loved it. It will be good for you. However, if you get much below 45 degrees you risk tissue damage, so I'd keep it just a bit warmer if I were you.

Thanks Everybody,

Has anybody ever witnessed any tissue damage due to an ice bath being to cold? I'm sure it happens, I just wanted to eye witness accounts.

I haven't seen tissue damage at low 40s, but I've also never seen anyone stay in that long. The runners at my school were always trying to put more ice in and I thought it was pretty risky. If you're immersing your entire lower body, it's much safer to keep it at 50 degrees. At 50-55, you're getting all of the therepeutic effects so the only reason to go lower is because you like the way it feels. Tissue damage is a big risk just because you enjoy having the temp that low.

BTW, I wasn't just your typical student trainer. I really did a lot of my own research on how to treat runners. When it came to most running injuries, I knew more than some of the ATCs.

I stood in a tub from the knees down for 20 minutes that was supposedly 39 degrees. It hurt the whole time but I didn't sustain any tissue damage that I know of. I didn't know it was that cold at the time, somebody stuck a thermometer in after I got out.

I do it all the time for 10:00 a pop. In the winter that water is danged cold--I use a garbage can full of water in my garage, and it stays cold.

Can you have an ice reaction because of the ice bath? I have seen em with ice packs before. Your skin turns all yellow and gray for like half an hour after you take the ice off. Can it happen in ice baths? Why does it happen at all?

Well, I'm not a trainer but I do have lots of ice bath experience and I've noticed the colder the better. We (guys on my college team) would go for 12-15 minutes anywhere between 37-40 degrees. After 3 minutes on the money it seemed everything went numb. None of us had any tissue damage and we did it for 4 years straight. Most of us stayed healthy. Of course we were from the high quad (just below nuts) down. I've seen some guys get on their knees but they were in about 45-50 degree water. The worst pain is when your nuts shrink up into your stomach and makes you sick.

This next story is just that....a story passed to me by my coach. Anyway, he told me Al Oerter (sp?) had a stress fracture in his foot and couldn't throw so he stuck his foot in a bucket of ice with enough water to mix it around. He says his body reacted to the ice water by producing cortisone and sending it to that area and healed the fracture faster than normal. I'm not a doctor so I don't even know if cortisone heals stress fractures, or helps for that matter, but it was definitely a good story. If it's TRUE, if it's TRUE, (repeated on purpose) than maybe logically you could possibly deduce that the colder the water the stronger the reaction by the body. Of course, I'm drunk right now so I could make sleeping with a sheep seem logical.

Believe it or not, some people have allergic reactions to ice. I don't know the biology behind it.

ice bath make american man dong like asian man. you need cook clean?