Why Ice Delays Injury Recovery: Red Light Therapy is a Better Option!

We have all heard the term RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. For years, decades really, RICE has been recommended by doctors and medical professionals for a variety of injuries. While ice may be the safest, cheapest, and simplest pain relief tool we have at our disposal, it may not be the best option for faster injury recovery. In this blog, we will discuss why.

The concept of RICE originated with the 1978 Sportsmedicine Book by Dr. Gabe Mirkin. Since then, Dr. Mirkin has revised his views on ice, noting that prolonged icing can constrict blood vessels and blunt the body’s natural healing processes. He has cautioned that extended ice use (beyond a few minutes) may hinder tissue repair and could temporarily reduce strength and flexibility in some cases (Mirkin, Gabe. Why Ice Delays Recovery. 2015). Read the full article here.

As a result, ice is no longer recommended because it has the effect of slowing your body’s natural response, which is essential to healing. It’s better to use a modality that enhances your body’s natural recovery response, such as red light therapy. 

The takeaway: while ice can help with immediate pain and swelling, relying on it for extended periods may slow longer-term recovery for some injuries.

Ice and red light therapy have very different effects on inflammation. Ice works to suppress the body's inflammatory response, whereas red light therapy supports the body's natural inflammatory response and repair mechanisms. So while ice is preventing normal inflammation from doing it's job, red light therapy is speeding up the injury recovery process by helping the body process inflammation. 

How Red Light Therapy Helps with Inflammation and Healing

• Improves cellular energy: Photons are absorbed by mitochondrial components (notably cytochrome c oxidase), potentially boosting ATP production and supporting tissue repair.
• Modulates redox signaling: A controlled, brief increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) can act as a signal that upregulates antioxidant defenses and anti-inflammatory pathways in a hormetic manner.
• Enhances blood flow and tissue perfusion: Light exposure can influence nitric oxide signaling, potentially improving microcirculation and helping remove inflammatory mediators from the injured area.
• Supports tissue repair processes: Some evidence suggests changes in inflammatory mediators and growth factors that favor resolution and healing.

So the morale of the story...next time you have an injury, consider grabbing a light therapy device! Your body will thank you! At Light Therapy Resource, we have a device to fit just about any budget, plus the resources and ongoing support to ensure you reap the full benefits of light therapy. Proudly a woman owned, California based company! To visit our store, click here.