How Long Should I Use a Cold Therapy Machine?

Cold therapy machines are one of the most effective ways to reduce pain after an injury or surgery without the use of medication. If you have been recommended to use a cold therapy machine, using it for the correct duration will optimize your recovery. But how long throughout your recovery period should cold therapy be used - days, weeks, or months? And, when using a cold therapy machine, how long should individual sessions last?

The Medcom Group’s experts have experience supplying various cold therapy machines. Here’s our insight into how long you should be using them.

What is a Cold Therapy Machine?

Cold therapy machines are medical devices that efficiently and effectively facilitate therapy grounded in exposing one’s body to cold temperatures. Just like taking an ice bath or a cold shower, exposing your body’s tissues to cold temperatures has extensive therapeutic benefits, and a cold therapy machine makes this process simple and easy to do at your convenience.

History of Cold Therapy Machines

Cold therapy, also known as cryotherapy, dates back 3,500 BCE (5,000+ years ago), as documented in ancient Egyptian and Greek documents. Its simplistic effectiveness has maintained its popularity throughout the ages and has developed scientifically through research.

As the popularity of cryotherapy has increased, clinicians, practitioners, and athletes alike have pursued easy-to-use, rapid-to-deploy, and portable cryotherapy alternatives. This interest surged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, driving innovation that has led to today's advanced modern technologies.

Why Use a Cold Therapy Machine?

Cold therapy machines are primarily used to manage pain by desensitizing nerves and reducing inflammation, fatigue, and swelling of sensitive areas after extensive use, injury, and surgery. Most importantly, cold therapy machines allow for this reduction of pain and inflammation without using any medication.

Many individuals recognize the importance of not relying on medication, especially when alternative methods are just as effective and can similarly provide portable, easy-to-use, and convenient relief. Furthermore, there are additional secondary benefits linked to cold therapy machines, including:

• Boosting the immune system
• Lowering the risk of infection
• Reduction of muscle pain and stiffness after exercise
• Reduction of swelling and inflammation
• Reduction of stress
• Stabilization of metabolism
• Improved sleep
• Improved focus

Importance of Informed Usage

Whether you have been prescribed the use of a cold therapy machine by your doctor or health care provider, or if you’ve simply heard about the popularity of these machines and want to try them for yourself, it’s essential that you correctly use them to optimize their results.

The answer to how long you should use cold therapy is twofold: how long the total therapeutic recovery period and how long in terms of individual session usage. Patients should always follow the directions and guidance of their doctor or healthcare provider. If you’re unsure, cannot remember what they told you, or didn’t tell you, an important step is to consult them before proceeding.

How Long Should I Use a Cold Therapy Machine?

As general guidance, how long you use a cold therapy machine primarily depends upon the severity of your injury and its ability to recover. You should expect to utilize your cold therapy machine throughout the recovery process as long as pain and inflammation persist.

Individual sessions are usually recommended to last 15-20 minutes. You'll use cold therapy the most in the first 48 hours after your injury or surgery. Ice the affected area at least four times each day; continue using it in such a way while your body’s inflammatory response is highly active over the first week of recovery.

If your body has not shown any reasonable improvement regarding the injury’s pain and swelling after two weeks, contact your doctor to ensure you're still healing effectively. As pain and inflammation are subsiding, you can reduce the number of cold therapy sessions to 1-2 times per day or as needed. Daily and weekly cold therapy sessions should decrease as the wound fully heals until you no longer need it.

Can You Use a Cold Therapy Machine Too Much?

Unfortunately, using a cold therapy machine for too long is possible. Using a cold therapy machine for too long (in regards to minutes in an individual session) can lead to tissue damage and widening of the blood vessels, also known as reactive vasodilation. Using a cold therapy machine too frequently can also delay recovery as the healing process requires blood flow of immune cells into the injured area. Cold temperatures can slow this down.

Is it Bad if You Do Not Use Cold Therapy Machines Frequent Enough?

Not using cold therapy machines as frequently or as long as needed has no severe side effects. The only downside is that you will not receive the full beneficial effects provided by cold therapy.

Begin Your Medication-Free Journey to Recovery

If you desire effective pain and inflammation reduction after an injury or surgery, cold therapy machines are the best path forward. However, cold therapy machines are only beneficial if used correctly and following proper usage frequency and duration.

Contact your doctor or health care provider if you have any questions or concerns about whether you should be using cold therapy machines and how best to optimize the recovery of your specific injury, and if you have any questions regarding the proper operation of your cold therapy machine, don’t hesitate to contact the experts at Medcom Group today!

Disclaimer

The Medcom Group, ltd. is not responsible for any complications arising from using this machine based on this article; patients should consult a healthcare professional for healthcare advice before performing cold therapy on themselves or another individual.