Ice for injuries

[GdBSN]

Do any of you have good EB research article/link addressing when ice should be used for an injury. It seems like I have read that ice is only beneficial 24-48 hours after the initial injury and only if swelling is present, but I can't seem to find a good article backing that up. Thanks!

[peacockblue]

If we don't give ice for every invisible injury, the teachers complain, the parents complain, the principal complains. It's just like lice. Our medical knowledge does not matter. It's about customer service. Do what they want or someone calls the school board.

[Amethya]

I have stopped letting students take ice packs out of my office and they only need it for 5 mins most of the time and they leave. The ones who have gotten hurt, I do RICE for a while and see how they feel later, if they still have issue walking and in pain, I'll let parents know (even after calling them the first time) and see if they want to take them home for rest.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

I didn't read the whole article but this may be what you are looking for. I do a lot of research through Google Scholar for articles and quick research.

Thieme - Login

Hppy

[gemmi999]

The best practice I saw for "disposable ice packs" was a school RN who took paper towel, folded it, wet it and placed it in a zip lock bag and froze it. Kids would then "mold it" over the area of injury. It stayed cold for like, 5 minutes and cost very little.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

The best practice I saw for "disposable ice packs" was a school RN who took paper towel, folded it, wet it and placed it in a zip lock bag and froze it. Kids would then "mold it" over the area of injury. It stayed cold for like, 5 minutes and cost very little.

I've done similar with sponges I cut in half (pack of 5 sponges for $1 from Dollar Tree for the win).