Chill Out! How to use Icepacks for pain relief and better health.

What is $8.00 Dr. Van Whaley, DC, BA, CCEP, CFT, SFOA
(Doctor of Chiropractic)
“THERAPEUTIC ICE”? (Bachelors Degree in Psychology)
(Certified Chiro. Extremity Practitioner)
(Certified Fitness Trainer)
(Specialist in Fitness for Older Adults)

What YOU can do to “By combining techniques, I help where
others fail. 25,000 patient visits have
Sleep better, taught me what really works.”
Move better, and
Van “Doc Vegas” Whaley
Feel Better.
Meet Doc Vegas

Dr. Van Whaley has many degrees and
Written by certifications (DC, BA, AA, CCEP, CFT,
SFOA). He earned an Associate and
Dr. Van F. Whaley Bachelors degree in Psychology in his home
state of Georgia. After a life-changing car
drvan@drvanwhaley.com crash, he spent four years earning his
Doctorate degree in
www.drvanwhaley.com Chiropractic. He
continues to study the
www.theGRATEplan.com
most up-to-date
techniques to help
others feel better. He
All material is protected by copyright laws (and has been married for
karma), not to be reproduced in any form without
13 years, pictured is
express written permission. 2010©
his daughter, Ivy.
Therapeutic Ice© 1 of 16 Drvan@drvanwhaley.com Therapeutic Ice© 2 of 16 Drvan@drvanwhaley.com

What is “THERAPEUTIC ICE”? Another benefit of Therapeutic Ice is
reducing Inflammation. When an area is
Therapeutic Ice, called Cryotherapy by injured, the body often responds by causing
professional therapists and healthcare an “Inflammatory Response.” Usually, the
experts, has many benefits. area is swollen and maybe sore and / or
discolored.

“Be cool. Heeeeeeeeeeey…..” “Have you ever twisted
or ‘rolled’ your ankle?”
-The Fonz- Then you know what
Arthur Fonzarelli inflammation feels like.
(a.k.a. Henry Winkler)

The Benefits of Therapeutic Ice.

Pain relief is the most common reason to use
Therapeutic Ice. Within minutes of using These injuries are notoriously painful, and
ice, sore and painful areas become “numb”, often cause swelling and bruising. Even if
reducing the sensation of pain!
there is not a broken bone or torn ligaments,
an injured ankle often causes a person to
Temporary pain relief is good, but using walk with a “limp” for a couple of days.
Therapeutic Ice can have an important effect These symptoms are related to
on your nerves as well. Proper use of “Inflammation”. 1
Therapeutic Ice can help to “calm down”
nerves, which eases Nerve Irritation.


Some of the most celebrated Have you ever seen one of these
“breakthroughs” in modern medicine are in professional athletes after a game? They
the field of Anti-Inflammatory medications. often have a large ice pack taped to their
Unfortunately, some of these medications pitching shoulder and arm.
have been shown to damage the liver or
kidneys, along with a list of other dangerous
side effects. I heard a baseball coach
tell the pitcher,
Therapeutic Ice has anti-inflammatory
benefits without the DANGEROUS side
effects. “Put a $20 icepack on
that million-dollar arm.”

Many medications
damage the liver or kidneys.
Therapeutic Ice has the benefits of
chasing away inflammation
without the dangerous side-effects of
All professional sports teams use
powerful prescriptions! Therapeutic Ice to help their players. Even
teams with millions of dollars in their
budget and armies of Athletic Trainers and
Medical Doctors use Therapeutic Ice to calm
As a sports fan, I love watching a baseball down painful areas and relieve injuries.
pitcher make a ball “dance” as he throws it
past the other teams best batter. Some of the
best pitchers can throw a baseball over 100
miles per hour!

What is Therapeutic Ice? For best results,
In an emergency, a plastic bag filled with ice
use therapeutic ice 20 minutes,
cubes will suffice, but I suggest purchasing a remove it for 20 minutes,
professional-quality Therapeutic Ice Pack. and then reapply to the same area
Available in various sizes, they are usually another 20 minutes.
plastic and have a gel/liquid inside. Make
sure it is non-toxic. These ice packs often
look like plastic bags sealed on all sides. The Moral of the Story is…
The best models have double seals, or a bag-
inside-a-bag. John* substituted a bag of frozen peas for a
professional Therapeutic Icepack. It worked
After being in a freezer, the gel/liquid traps to ease his pain, but he soon learned a
and holds the cold temperature longer than valuable lesson.
regular ice and water. The “gel” inside the
icepack will remain cold for up to two
hours! Unlike water, the gel does not One patient tried a
become hard or solidify, so the pack is able “substitute icepack:’
to bend to comfortably match the shape of
You will not believe the
your body.
lesson he learned, or who
taught it to him.
Contact Dr. Van Whaley
Email drvan@drvanwhaley.com
www.drvanwhaley.com


How to Ice Right.
Everything was great until after the third
time he used it, when he forgot to return it to No matter what type of icepack you use,
the freezer. NEVER place it directly against the skin.
Always wrap an icepack with a towel or
pad, keeping several layers of cloth between
Later that night, his two cats had a blast the icepack and your skin.
when they tore open the bag. Smelling
food, the cats attacked the plastic bag. The Place the wrapped icepack onto an area,
good news is that the cats only ate two or keep it there for 20 minutes, and then
three of the peas. Obviously they were remove it. Never leave it in the same area
picky-eaters. for longer than twenty minutes at a time.

You can get the benefits of Therapeutic Ice
The other thousand peas became toys! The several times each day.
green balls were cold and soggy, yet they
must have been fun to play with. The cats
managed to hide 1,000 green peas A creative patient loved to watch a
throughout the house! one-hour game show on TV.
She would apply an icepack at the
When John went into the living room the start of the show, remove it during
next morning, there were defrosted peas the middle, and reapply it for the
scattered everywhere. What a mess, and the final 20 minutes.
cleanup was never-ending! For several
weeks, the owner would find a lone pea She benefits from two ice-sessions
hiding under the bed, inside his shoe, and while watching TV.
many other places.


For best results, Even though most people say it is a funny
use therapeutic ice 20 minutes, bone, now you can explain that it should
remove it for 20 minutes, really be called a “Funny Nerve”. This is a
perfect example of how pressure in one area,
and then reapply to the same area bumping your elbow, causes symptoms to
another 20 minutes. show up someone else along the path of the
Nerve.
Nerves
The Body’s Communication System. Just like traffic on a busy street, nerves carry
important information in both directions to
When was the last time you hit your “funny connect your brain and your body. Let’s
bone?” Remember feeling tingling or look at this interesting phenomenon closer.
electricity running down the forearm into
your hand? Did you know that the funny Nerves carry vital information from the
bone is not a bone at all; it is a nerve! brain out to each part of your body. For
example, your brain tells your leg muscles to
Nerves that travel to your fingertips are well work harder because it suddenly starts to
protected as they exit your neck and upper rain while you look for your car in the
back. There is not as much padding in the parking lot.
arm, and the nerves are closer to the surface
as they cross the elbow joint. Nerves also send messages from the body to
the brain, carrying information needed to
Bumping your elbow can irritate the nerve, make decisions and take action (i.e., pulling
causing pain and weird sensations. That away from the heat of a fire, grabbing the
weird feeling that shoots into the hand is bottom of your foot after stepping on an
following the nerve as it goes down the unseen toy or rock.)
forearm and into your hand.


Your body has billions of nerves and An area with lots of Nerves, called a Nerve
connections where the nerves communicate Plexus, can be sensitive to stress or injury,
with each other.2 and usually responds well to Therapeutic
Ice. The neck, upper back, shoulders, and
A lot of people suffer from symptoms in low back all have high concentrations of
their arms, hands, legs or feet due to Nerves, and are common places to apply
pressure on a nerve. Remember, pain and Therapeutic Ice.
symptoms in one area can be caused by
pressure or problems in another area.
Many people have a tendency to “carry
stress with them” causing the muscles in
Nerves, arteries, and veins in your neck and their neck and upper back to become tight
upper back travel through your shoulder, and sore. A Therapeutic Icepack is perfect
down your arm, and continue to your hand. to drape around the neck like a scarf.
Additionally, nerves and blood supply that Another option is to hang the icepack over
start in your low back travel through your the top of one shoulder, and cover the
legs and reach your toes. muscles connecting the neck to the shoulder
blade, or scapula.

Where should I stick it? You can get the benefits of Therapeutic Ice
(Be careful whom you ask!) several times each day.
The short answer is use therapeutic For more results, use therapeutic ice 20
ice anywhere you have pain! minutes, remove it for 20 minutes, and then
reapply to the same area another 20 minutes.
It is also helpful to use ice on areas
with lots of nerves to reduce nerve
interference and irritation.


Bibliography
For best results,
use therapeutic ice 20 minutes,
remove it for 20 minutes,
and then reapply to the same area
another 20 minutes. 1. “Signs of Inflammation.”
http://arthritis.webmd.com/about-inflammation

2. “Billions of nerves.”
Contact Dr. Van Whaley http:education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/

Email
drvan@drvanwhaley.com Contact Dr. Van Whaley
www.drvanwhaley.com Email drvan@drvanwhaley.com
www.theGRATEplan.com www.drvanwhaley.com

All Content copyright 2008-2010.
Dr. Van Whaley
All rights reserved.


Chill Out! How to use Icepacks for pain relief and better health.

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Chill Out! How to use Icepacks for pain relief and better health.