No benefits to ice baths

PUNISHING ice baths have no proven benefits for sports stars, research unveiled at the annual conference of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists has revealed.

A four-year research programme by University of Limerick Professor Alan Donnelly and his team into cryotherapy treatments, ranging from ice baths to high-tech cryotherapy chamber, has revealed such treatments of exercise induced muscle soreness and damage have no proven benefits.
Addressing the packed conference of physiotherapists in Limerick last week, as well as a number of international experts, Dr Donnelly stated that while whole-body cryotherapy chambers are operated at temperatures of -110°C or lower, colder than the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth, they tend to be operated professionally and do not leave players or patients at risk.
However, ice baths, which are being used increasingly for recovery in sports clubs across the country, are often no more than wheelie bins filled with ice and present real risks. These risks include ice burns and bronchospasm (constriction of the airways) which is a greater risk if players are submerged above the waist, while asthma sufferers are particularly vulnerable.
“The bulk of evidence, including our own research, says that there are no proven benefits for recovery from cryotherapy treatments, be they cryotherapy chambers or ice-baths. The results from our tests, which were focused on recovery, did not support the use of either form of cryotherapy to alleviate muscle soreness and damage.
“Ultimately, the best recovery strategy is a suitable warm-down, including mild exercise and stretching, not immediate immersion in ice-baths or whole-body cryotherapy,” he said.
The studies carried out under the UL professor’s team included rigorous physical exercise tests that induced repairable muscle soreness followed by volunteers standing immersed to hip level for four minutes in water at either 6C (cryotherapy) or 19C (control) immediately after and at 24, 48 and 72 hours after the exercise bout.
Results showed no significant difference in the response to either treatment. The tests showed that force didn’t return any faster and volunteers weren’t any less sore afterwards.
“Studies generally agree that whole-body cryotherapy is safe when correctly applied but there are no proven benefits for recovery. However, if not correctly applied, there is potential for cold injury, including frost-nip, frostbite, reactive broncho-constriction and hypothermia,” he continued.
“There is a little bit more evidence for contrast water treatment (hot and cold) than cryotherapy but the on balance, the bulk of evidence also says that this does not work either. However, with regard to ice baths, not only are there no proven benefits but when the whole body is immersed  these are likely to cause problems.”
Professor Donnelly also revealed that up to 40% of muscle force dissipates in the aftermath of intense exercise participation and that it could take up to 10 days for full recovery.
“This suggests that macho training session often relied on by coaches is counter-productive. Certainly during the competition season, this type of training is not a good idea,” he contended.