The Difference Between Icing and Heating: BowlFit Tips

While many of us prepare for the cold winter by warming up, we thought it might be useful to take advantage of those basic principles and how they relate to injury prevention and treatment.

Many people use ice or heat for relieving joint pain or inflammation. But when do you know which is appropriate? What types of pain or discomfort should be treated with each?

Ice: The primary function of ice is to reduce inflammation and swelling. Anytime there is damage to cells in a certain area, there is a inflammatory response that counteracts that damage. Whether it be in tendons, muscles, or entire joints, the inflammation occurs. Because the ice slows blood flow to that area, swelling will be reduced. Icing can act as a solution in some cases, but primarily it reduces symptoms of a sometimes more serious injury. And soreness AFTER activity is a key indicator that ice should be used. As a preventative, using ice baths is a considerable idea. Ice baths can reduce the onset of muscle soreness you might feel after making increases in programs as well as reinforce maintenance of joints.

Heat: The ultimate goal of heat is to loosen tightness in muscles and joints. Like any physical activity, there is a warm up phase. The purpose of this phase is to generate heat in the muscle and joints to get loose and move through complete ranges of motion. Heat should NOT be used when there is inflammation because it will increase blood flow to the area and increase the response. Heat might be more soothing than ice, but it’s purpose is the opposite. Use heat on your muscles and joints when they’re feeling tight. Prevention comes into play when you’re staying active. You should make sure muscles are warmed up and loose before activity in order to prevent any injuries.

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About Heather –

Heather D’Errico MS, CSCS, CFSC, LMT

Heather began BowlFit in 2013 with the hope to provide awareness to bowlers about how crucial training off the lanes truly is. She has been an avid bowler her entire life competing as a collegiate bowler for Robert Morris University, assistant coaching at the University of Central Missouri, and now head coaches at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY.

She obtained a master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis on exercise science and interned with the head strength coach at UCM. She became a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) through NSCA shortly after graduation and began coaching athletes at Next Level Strength and Conditioning in Fairport, NY.

In October 2015 she received her certified functional strength coach certification and then went back to school in July 2016 for massage therapy. She is now a licensed massage therapist and runs a business called Restorative Bodywork in Rochester, NY that specializes in movement therapy and sports massage.

Heather has also been competing on the PWBA tour the last 3 seasons and continues to use her experiences as a competitive and professional bowler to create programs for bowlers. She enjoys the challenges of making programs specific to each bowler as every person needs to focus on different areas for their performance goals. With that said her training motto is “do no harm” and believes each program should most importantly make a bowler FEEL better and play with minimal injuries/pain.