Cold water: good for muscles?
Are you wincing watching this? No need to go and find an ice hole, but immersion in cold water is sometimes used with the aim of preventing or treating muscle soreness after exercise. Does it work? A Cochrane review found:
- weak evidence suggesting that cold-water immersion reduces muscle soreness immediately after exercise and at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours compared with rest or no treatment
- its safety is unknown
- the best method of cold water immersion is unknown
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Links:
Bleakley C, McDonough S, Gardner E, Baxter GDavid, Hopkins JTy, Davison GW. Cold-water immersion (cryotherapy) for preventing and treating muscle soreness after exercise. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD008262. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008262.pub2 – See more at: http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD008262/MUSKINJ_cold-water-immersion-for-preventing-and-treating-muscle-soreness-after-exercise#sthash.N3SdS2tE.dpuf