When icing an injured wrist, what are the correct procedures, and what are the negitive, if any, side effects?
599337
Icing must be done in the first thirty minutes or so after the over-use. It is best done by wrapping an ice bag in a towel and taping it over the injured wrist. You can also use a ziploc bag, but again use a towel or some other kind of cloth to keep from getting the area too cold. That can be very painful and cause other kinds of injury.\n\nThe idea behind icing and the timing for using it is that your body rapidly deploys lymph from your circulatory system into the spaces between the cells of your wrist to enrich its supply of white blood cells and to create a positive pressure in the tissue that isolates it from the rest of the body. Cold shrinks capillaries and greatly slows the leakage of lymph into the interstial spaces. By doing this, swelling is greatly reduced and inflammation is less likely to occur. If you wait too long (swelling is already present) then you use heat to increase the circulation into the area and extract the extra fluid from the tissue spaces. \n\nThere are no negative side-effects if done correctly. Healing will be much faster. I hope your specialist also told you that over-use to the point of needing ice that continues for a long time can lead to the other things that you don't have now. You may need to work on technique so that you are creating less shock and trauma to your wrists. \n\nI am a guitar player and sometimes get the kind of problem you are describing in my forearms. Ice for 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off for an hour or so almost always does the trick so that I can play again the next day.
54524
Probably nothing. You might get a sore wrist though.
889931
Ice and Ibuprofen. Make sure you don't put heat on it.
632520
Ice, it will bring the swelling down and it also acts as a numbing agent.  so it won't hurt that bad.
36151
If you got it while typing a lot, use the split keyboard. That certainly helped me. There are also braces that you can get for your wrist. But that's a second step, depending on how bad it is.
919495
Ice and rest.  If you are sure it is just sprained just put ice on it for a while--15 min on/15 min off for the first 24 hrs.  rest your thumb by wearing a brace or splint (you can buy at drug store) for a few days.  Take tylenol or advil for any pain.  if the pain increases or it gets to the point where you think it is broken see a dr.
693177
i used to get bengay or icyhot and rub that on it \n\nthen get a towel wet it, ring it out and put it in the micro to heat it and wrap your wrist you should be 70 to 90% by tomorrow good luck
1036748
apply ice to it, no longer then 15 mintues and make sure its not direct. then wrap it with an ace bandage
1070877
If you can't really move it, make an anatomical splint for it. (Tape it to the finger next to it) And keep icing it. I would go to the doctor also.
897386
You have probably jammed your thumb...It's gonna take a big while to heal...It is custom to recommend ice when treating a jammed thumb. But every time I've tried that, it has been futile. Instead I put some water on to heat and add salt to it. Epsom salt works the best, but any other will do fine. The water is not exactly boiling, but close to it. You take this hot water and place it in a container, and dip the corner of a small towel in it. Put the wet corner over your thumb for as long as you can take it. Keep doing this, and once the temperature of the water is bearable, put your whole thumb in it. Keep doing this, and keep reheating the water if it becomes warm of cold. If you do this right after the thumb gets sprained, it will reduce swelling, turning purple or and reduce the pain. The results are fast, and much more effective than ice. The healing process is also shortened if you repeat it for some days. If you're going to be involved in some activity, tape the thumb up because you want the least movement possible.
149785
RICE approach:\n\nRest--You may need to rest your ankle, either completely or partly, depending on how serious your sprain is. Use crutches for as long as it hurts you to stand on your foot. \n\nIce--Using ice packs, ice slush baths or ice massages can decrease the swelling, pain, bruising and muscle spasms. Keep using ice for up to 3 days after the injury. \n\nCompression--Wrapping your ankle may be the best way to avoid swelling and bruising. You'll probably need to keep your ankle wrapped for 1 or 2 days after the injury and perhaps for up to a week or more. \n\nElevation--Raising your ankle to or above the level of your heart will help prevent the swelling from getting worse and will help reduce bruising. Try to keep your ankle elevated for about 2 to 3 hours a day if possible. \n\nWhat is the best way to use ice?\nPutting ice on your ankle can be very helpful, but you also need to be careful. The cold can damage nerves if the ice is left in place too long. \n\nIce can be left on your ankle for up to 20 minutes at a time. When your skin feels numb, it's time to remove the ice. Use ice treatments every 2 to 4 hours for the first 3 days after your injury. Ice treatments can consist of ice packs, ice slush baths or ice massages. \n\nTo use ice packs, partly fill a plastic bag with crushed ice. Wrap a thin, wet cloth around your injury. Place the ice pack over this and then wrap an elastic bandage around the ice pack to hold it in place. \n\nFor ice slush baths, fill a large bucket with water and ice. Place your ankle in the bucket until the skin gets numb.\n\nIce massages can work well for small areas. Freeze water in 4- to 8-ounce styrofoam (coffee) cups. Tear the top part of the cup away from the ice. Hold the covered end and slowly rub the ice over the sprained area with a circular motion. Don't hold the ice on one spot for more than 30 seconds.
720633
depends on how many bones in the wrist are damaged. The more that are, the more you need to have surgery, or you'll experience weakness, arthritis, an inflammation from bone chips rubbing on nerves, tendons, etc.
115075
I shattered my finger joint so badly they sent me to a specialist.  He took off the splint right away (1 day after the break) and said that while it was healing I had to move it as much as I wanted to be able to move it after it was done healing, otherwise I would have very restricted movement.  Even though it hurt a lot I bent it all the way back and forth every minute of every day until it was done healing.  I have a joint with normal movement.  Just keep remembering that you want full use of it.  You should have done it from the beginning, but good luck.
730100
Ice bath is better after, not before. It relaxes and soothes your muscles, numbs them and stops the pain. I did this a lot for gymnastics.
696707
Put ice on it, stabilizes it using a splint or taping it to the finger next to it, don't play through the pain, I would suggest giving it a few days rest to see if it improves.  If it's really painful, you should consider going to a doctor for x-rays to make sure it isn't broken.
483868
Depends on what you did to your knee that caused the pain- and you call a doctor for an evaluation, because many things can have gone amok:)  If the pain is acute, go to an Emergency Room.\n\nFirstly, if you inured it, the rule of thumb is RICE\n\n    *  Rest: Resting is important immediately after injury for two reasons. First, rest is vital to protect the injured muscle, tendon, ligament or other tissue from further injury. Second, your body needs to rest so it has the energy it needs to heal itself most effectively.\n    * Ice: Use ice bags, cold packs or even a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a thin towel to provide cold to the injured area. Cold can provide short-term pain relief. It also limits swelling by reducing blood flow to the injured area. Keep in mind, though, that you should never leave ice on an injury for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. Longer exposure can damage your skin. The best rule is to apply cold compresses for 15 minutes and then leave them off for at least 20 minutes. (Read The Proper Use of ICE).\n    * Compression: Compression limits swelling, which slows down healing. Some people notice pain relief from compression as well. An easy way to compress the area of the injury is to wrap an ACE bandage over it. If you feel throbbing, or if the wrap just feels too tight, remove the bandage and re-wrap the area so the bandage is a little looser.\n    * Elevation: Elevating an injury reduces swelling. It's most effective when the injured area is raised above the level of the heart. For example, if you injure an ankle, try lying on your bed with your foot propped on one or two pillows. \n\nAfter a day or two of R.I.C.E., many sprains, strains or other injuries will begin to heal. But if your pain or swelling does not decrease after 48 hours, make an appointment to see your primary care physician or go to the emergency room, depending upon the severity of your symptoms.\n\nOnce the healing process has begun, very light massage may improve the function of forming scar tissue, cut healing time and reduce the possibility of injury recurrence.\n\nGentle stretching can be begun once all swelling has subsided. Try to work the entire range of motion of the injured joint or muscle, but be extremely careful not to force a stretch, or you risk re-injury to the area. Keep in mind that a stretch should never cause pain. For proper stretching technique, review Flexibility Exercises.\n\nHeat may be helpful once the injury moves out of the acute phase and swelling and bleeding has stopped. Moist heat will increase blood supply to the damaged area and promote healing.\n\nFinally, after the injury has healed, strengthening exercises can be begun. Start with easy weights and use good form. See Strengthening Exercises.
463353
Because the cast was on for 6-8 weeks, the muscles were weakened considerably in that wrist. Sometimes in a compound brake-fragments of bone do not heal exactly straight. Sometimes a nerve gets pinched or tweaked. Is it your dominant hand? You could try simple exercises like squeezing a stress ball that is made of soft foam and does not put much pressure on the tendons/ligaments. You have to gradually build the wrist strength up. Normal- I don't know. If it bothers you-schedule an appointment with a doctor.