Athletic Care
The Virginia Spine Institute has been a leader in the arena of treating elite and amateur athletes since 1992. The Virginia Spine Institute has been the spinal consultants to the Washington Redskins NFL franchise since 1993. Through our customized treatment plans emphasizing core stabilization, joint mobilization, along with tissue release, and when indicated, focused pain management we have aided Olympians, college athletes, amateur athletes, high school athletes and weekend warriors to optimize their ability. We have been able to rapidly return many professional and amateur athletes to the playing field in a safe and rapid approach.
Whether you are a multimillion dollar professional athlete or an individual who desires to enjoy a round of golf, many novel approaches are available to customize a program to your anatomy, your sport and your ability. Specialists at The Virginia Spine Institute will help you stay in the game while enjoying a pain-free life.
To Ice or to Heat
A common debate is whether an athlete should ice or heat an injury. Traditionally, icing an injury causes the blood vessels to constrict and decrease the flow to an area. This is especially important after an acute injury. Acute injuries are accompanied with soft tissue damage. Increased blood flow to that area will allow the damaged blood vessels to leak in the area of the injury resulting in increased swelling in the area of the sprain, strain, or contusion. By icing an acute injury, this decreases the seepage of blood and inflammatory cells into the area of the injury. If blood contents seep into the area, then as these are resorbed by the body, significant inflammation occurs as well as the inflammation induced by the body’s white blood cells as a local defense mechanism. Therefore, by icing the acute injury, we decrease local swelling. Once we are passed the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours of an acute injury, then heating is more appropriate because we now want to recruit blood flow to the area to resorb the tissue damage and aid in the healing process. Therefore, locally applied heat will aid in enhancing blood flow and speeding recovery.
In chronic conditions, this becomes a little less clear as to whether ice or heat will produce the best result. We counsel our patients with chronic conditions to use whichever makes them feel better in the short-term and long-term. Many times heating a local joint will allow the tissues to relax and allow for improved flexibility and often that seems to be extremely effective. Although, occasionally some individuals will claim cooling makes them feel better. Generally, we find heat to be more effective in chronic conditions; however, we request individualization of that to each patient.
