Ice Packs/Cold Packs

What everyone needs to have at home in their freezer ... The COLD PACK!

The faster a person starts to treat an injury the shorter the recovery time is likely to be. With mostly musculoskeletal injuries/traumas (sprains, strains, brusies, etc), pain, swelling, inflammation, and muscle spasm will all be reduced if cold is applied as soon as possible in the first 24-48 hour period. It may be uncomfortable but it is the most effective, even for minor injuries. Don't wait for a hour or two to see what happens. Start treating right away, within minutes if possible.

Remember RICE after an injury: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation

Use a cloth barrier such as a piloow case or thin kitchen towel between the cold pack and the skin to prevent burning. Keep the cold pack on for approximately 15 minutes. This can be repeated hourly.

If the injury is serious, causes extreme pain, hinders mobility, etc. see a physical therapist or your doctor (primary care, physiatrist, or orthopeadic) as soon as possible bt continue with the cold treatments at least 3-4 times a day to control the inflammation.

The following are some easy, homemade recipes for reuseable cold packs. They are significantly less expensive than the ones you buy in the drug stores. They do not however take a lot of body weight well, so if you are going to be lieing down on them for your back or hip or shoulder repeatedly they will breakdown quickly. Better that you spend the money on an industrial made cold pack that you can find at a medical supply store (not the corner drug store). It is a supply store if they sell walkers and bedpans and the like.

1. Take one bottle of Dawn Dishwahing Liquid (Dawn has a special pH which is different from the others, it is also why it cuts grease better) and empty it into a gallon size zipock bag. ( A heavy duty freezer bag works best.) Take the air of the bag and close it. Flip it over and put in into another ziplock bag and close that one. Place the bag into the freezer. As the liquid freezes it changes into a gel that is flexible and will conform to differnt body parts. As it the pack warms up it "melts" back into liquid form. Put it back into the freezer to make it cold again.
If it does leak, dont worry, the soap washes out. Simply put the whole thing into another freezer bag.

2. Pour a 1 pint bottle of Isoproply (Rubbing) Alcohol into a ziplock freezer bag. Fill up the alcohol bottle twice with water and pour into the same freezer bag. Take out the air and seal the bag. Put the bag into a second freezer bag and seal it securely. Place in freezer. Contents will stay slushy (and won't freeze solid). Return the bag to freezer after use.

3. Use a bag of frozen peas or any frozen vegetables. These mold to the contours of the body. You can reuse use the bag by putting it back into the freezer but don't eat the vegetables after they have been thawed and then refrozen. Continued thawing and refreezing will cause them to get mushy eventually.

Wenning Physical Therapy
152 East 73rd St. New York, NY 10021
(between Lex and 3rd)
646-712-2064 patrickpt@nyc.rr.com