Ankle sprains are one of the most common sports injuries; they send about a million Americans to clinics every year and cause chronic problems for many.

    The problem is clear, but the first-aid treatment is not: heat or cold?

    Many people swear by heat, saying it soothes the pain and promotes healing by stimulating blood flow. Others advocate ice, precisely because it does the reverse, slowing blood flow and minimizing inflammation.

    According to research, ice wins every time.

    In multiple studies, scientists have compared heat and ice by randomly assigning people who showed up at sports clinics with sprains to receive one treatment or the other, in combination with a pain reliever like ibuprofen. One prominent study found that immediate ice therapy "resulted in earlier return to activity, as defined by ability to walk, climb stairs, run and jump without pain."

    In people with the most severe injuries - including torn ligaments - treatment with ice resulted in a 13-day recovery, compared with 30 days for those treated with heat.

    For the best results, experts recommend the Price method: protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation. They caution that ice should be applied only 20 minutes at a time.

    THE BOTTOM LINE

    Ice is far better than heat for ankle sprains.

    腳踝扭傷是最常見的運動傷害之一；每年都大約會有1百萬人因腳踝扭傷走進醫院，同時腳踝扭傷還會給許多人造成一些慢性疾病。

    病癥這個問題很清楚，但是急救方式卻不明確：是該熱敷還是冷敷？

    很多人會推薦熱敷，說熱敷會減輕疼痛并且可以通過刺激血液流動促進愈合。另一部分人提倡用冷敷，正是因為它起到了與熱敷相反的作用，減慢血液流動減小紅腫。

    根據研究，冷敷的方法每次都會獲得勝利。

    在多次研究中，科學家們通過隨機指定一些由于扭傷去運動診所接受一種或多種治療以及服用這類緩解疼痛藥物的病人，對比了熱敷和冷敷。一項重要的研究發現了快速的冷敷治療會讓病人更早的恢復活動，明確的說就是沒有任何疼痛的行走，爬樓梯，跑跳。

    對于那些有著很嚴重的損傷的人，包括韌帶撕裂，冷敷治療可以使患者13天恢復，而使用熱敷的那些患者卻要30天。

    對于最好的結果，專家們推薦廉價的治療方法：預防，休息，冷敷，按壓以及把腳抬高。他們還提醒說冷敷每次需要20分鐘。

    結論

    對于腳踝扭傷，冷敷比熱敷好得多。