Effectiveness of Salted Ice Bag Versus Cryocompression on Decreasing Intramuscular and Skin Temperature

Abstract

Salted IB with elastic wrap compression, GR, and PP-ice produced equivalent intramuscular temperature decreases during the treatment period.

Examination of Intramuscular and Skin Temperature Decreases Produced by the PowerPlay Intermittent Compression Cryotherapy

“…However, skin temperature is highly variable and is further influenced by the presence of a barrier and the addition of external compression. Correlations in this study as well as previous studies 12,19,27 have demonstrated no correlation between skin and muscle temperatures, indicating that skin temperatures cannot be utilized to approximate muscle temperature decreases.…”

“…Previous research using the PP-ice indicates it is capable of producing equivalent intramuscular temperature decreases as salted ice bags and GameReady. 19 Skin temperatures using PP-ice were 5C lower that PP-gel by minute 12, and 10.5C lower by the end of the 30 minute treatment ( Table 2). In our study, the PowerPlay with gel pack decreased skin temperature only 4C during a 30-minute treatment.…”

“…Two previous studies have found that ice bags and slush bucket cooled intramuscular tissue to a greater extent than GameReady, 17,18 while another study found no statistical difference in intramuscular temperature decreases between salted ice bags, GameReady at high pressure, and PowerPlay with wetted ice bag. 19 Previous research has found that frozen gel packs produce limited decreases in muscular tissue, 10,20 yet despite these findings, new cryo-compression units utilizing frozen gel packs continue to enter the market (e.g., PowerPlay, Squid Compression, Sport Pump SC4, Bio Compressions Systems BioCryo Garments). The Power Play unit is unique, in that it allows for both frozen gel pack inserts and wetted ice bag inserts within the same compression sleeves.…”

Cooling of Lower Extremity Muscles According to Subcutaneous Tissue Thickness

“…However, this was determined using an ice bag not wrapped around the gastrocnemius and temperature measured 2 cm into the muscle. In other research, 22 a salted ice bag with elastic wrap, GameReady ice bag, and PowerPlay ice bag decreased intramuscular temperatures similarly over a 30-minute intervention. Even though subcutaneous tissue thickness was measured in both studies, treatment times were not altered.…”

“…One text 11 even went so far as to recommend treatment times. A number of researchers [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] have incorporated cooling recommendations based on subcutaneous tissue thickness into their study designs or accounted for subcutaneous tissue thickness in different results across patients. Textbooks and scholarly articles suggested translating these recommendations to patient care, but many clinicians were complacent and relied on a ''cookbook approach'' to patient care.…”