Abstract
Abstract Introduction: Cryotherapy is a technique that involves the application of low temperatures in the treatment of acute injuries, with ice being the simplest and oldest therapeutic modality for this. Objective: To compare two different cold water immersion protocols (standard and intermittent) on the ankle region of healthy volunteers, we analyzed changes in static postural stability, threshold, and pain tolerance immediately after application. Method: This is a quasi-experimental study, controlled clinical trial, and non-probabilistic sampling. The total sample consisted of 40 male patients aged 18 to 30 years. Two different cold water immersion protocols (standard and intermittent) were compared for their effects on pain threshold, tolerance, and static postural stability. Results: There were no significant differences between the groups with regards to the stabilometric variables after the application of both protocols (p > 0.05). There was a significant difference in the threshold and tolerance of the two groups after the application of cold water immersion (p < 0.05); however, there were no significant differences between the groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Both cold water immersion protocols proved to be safe for static postural balance, without showing deficits in stabilometric variables. Regarding the analgesic effect, both were effective and significantly increased the threshold and tolerance of ankle pain after cryoimmersion, without any differences between groups. Thus, intermittent 10-minute cold water immersion is sufficient to generate the same analgesic effect as the standard 20-minute pattern, with no change in static postural stability.
Highlights
Cryotherapy is a technique that involves the application of low temperatures in the treatment of acute injuries, with ice being the simplest and oldest therapeutic modality for this
The total sample consisted of 41 men aged 18 to 30, who were excluded if they met any of following criteria: (1) selfreported joint pain, (2) previous history of injuries to the ankle joint, (3) presence of prostheses or orthoses, (4) previous surgeries in the ankle region, (5) presence of Raynaud’s phenomenon, cold hives, cryoglobulinemia, cold hemoglobinuria, peripheral vascular disease, hypersensitivity to cold, diabetes mellitus, or any inflammatory process in the ankle area, and (6) use of drugs that may interfere with stability and posture, or cause neurological diseases, vestibular, cognitive and visual changes without using corrective methods
It was expected that both cryotherapy protocols would promote an increase in pain threshold and tolerance without significant differences between the two
Summary
Cryotherapy is a technique that involves the application of low temperatures in the treatment of acute injuries, with ice being the simplest and oldest therapeutic modality for this. Objective: To compare two different cold water immersion protocols (standard and intermittent) on the ankle region of healthy volunteers, we analyzed changes in static postural stability, threshold, and pain tolerance immediately after application. Method: This is a quasi-experimental study, controlled clinical trial, and non-probabilistic sampling. The total sample consisted of 40 male patients aged 18 to 30 years. Two different cold water immersion protocols (standard and intermittent) were compared for their effects on pain threshold, tolerance, and static postural stability. Cryotherapy involves the application of lower temperature, with ice being the simplest and oldest therapeutic modality in the treatment of acute injuries [5]. There is primarily a reduction of inflammation and pain (by increasing the threshold and pain tolerance), assisting in the retrieval action [6,7,8,9]
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