Break Out Of The Ice Age
Traditional Cold Therapy Is Ancient History
In one form or another, cold therapy has been around since about 2500BC. Since that time, it has been successfully used to treat a number of maladies–from minor bumps and bruises to muscle injuries and spasms, and even some forms of cancer. Cold therapy can be a very effective form of treatment, but the most common tools of cold therapy, ice and frozen gels, bring along a variety of uncomfortable–and potentially dangerous–side effects, including pain, nerve palsy and frostbite.
Looking for safe and effective cold therapy that is actually comfortable to use? Read on and discover how Black Ice CoolTherapy will help you break out of the ice age.
Ice–The Prehistoric Solution
The Neanderthal of cold therapy products, ice has been around since the dawn of time. Hard and brutally cold, ice is painful to apply to your skin, and it will give you frostbite if used without proper care.
Applied to the skin incorrectly, ice slows blood flow to a dangerous level. If blood flows too slowly, cells are deprived of oxygen, fuel and nutrients. In this case, cell
damage will occur, leading to nerve palsy, frostbite and tissue death. This is why ice must be used with a protective barrier to protect your skin, why it should
not be used for longer than 20 min., and why there must be a lengthy rest period between applications.
Gels–A Step In The Wrong Direction
Throw a suit and tie on ice, and you get the gel pack. Though softer, prettier and easier to use than its prehistoric ancestor, the frozen gel pack still has one fatal flaw–it’s as cold and harsh as the ice age itself.
Just like ice, frozen gels slow blood flow to a dangerous level. If blood flows too slowly, cells become starved for oxygen, fuel and nutrients. Eventually they will suffer irreparable damage, leading to nerve palsy, frostbite, and tissue death.
As with ice, frozen gels must only be used with a protective barrier for your skin, they should not be used for longer than 20 min. at a time, and application should be followed by a lengthy rest period.
Cold Is Just Not Cool
Among several positive effects, cold therapy slows blood flow and reduces fluid pressure, allowing injured tissue to repair itself. But using ice or frozen gels risks slowing blood flow to dangerous levels. Instead of protecting yourself from frostbite with washcloths and egg timers, why not change the temperature you apply to your skin in the first place?
Hospitals do. Instead of using ice or frozen gels, many hospitals use sophisticated pump-driven cold therapy recirculation systems that deliver a regulated temperature output of about 50-55F. These systems offer all the therapeutic benefits of cold therapy, with a level of safety and comfort that allows
uninterrupted 24-hour use.
Clearly, cool is far better than cold, but who wants to be confined to a hospital bed–or tethered to a cooler of ice water–to receive the most effective form of cold therapy?
Black Ice CoolTherapy–The 21st Century
Alternative To Prehistoric Cold Therapy
At Black Ice, we know the difference between cool and cold. That’s why we’ve created The Black Ice CoolTherapy System–a patented cold therapy product that offers every single benefit associated with traditional cold therapy–without any of the usual prehistoric baggage ice and gels always drag along. With a regulated 52°F output, Black Ice CoolTherapy Packs are portable, easy to use, and they offer a level of comfort, safety and effectiveness found in sophisticated, hospital-based recirculation systems–but at a fraction of the cost.