How does ice reduce swelling?
Are you familiar with the inflammation process? If not, it is a process that occurs in our bodies when we sustain damage, whether internal, external, or both. To keep it short and sweet, during inflammation at the site of damage, our body directs blood flow to the area by vasodilating our arteries. When we receive damage a chemical is sent out from the damaged tissue that alerts white blood cells and other cells to come to the area to help promote healing (including platelets to form a clot or more commonly known as a scab). When healing is promoted the area swells from all the blood being directed there. Usually the inflammation process is a good thing for our bodies. Sometimes it can be bad or last too long, or someone simply might refuse pain meds and need another source of anesthetizing the site. Ice causes those arteries carrying blood and the healing cells to vasoconstrict, which makes the arteries narrower and decreases the amount of blood flow. In turn the swelling goes down as
