Rapid cooling does little for strained muscles- study

Blasts of super cold air may feel good on overworked muscles, but the increasingly popular form of cryotherapy does not stop muscle soreness or declines in muscle strength, according to a new study. Though other measures of muscle injury, such as swelling and muscle-cell electrical activity, were slightly improved after the rapid cooling, "overall, it's ineffective," said Gaël Guilhem, the lead author of the study and a researcher at the National Institute for Sports in Paris, France. What athletes are interested in, Guilhem said, is, "'am I (in less pain), am I stronger?' And the answer was, 'no.'" Ice has long been used as a therapy for muscle injury. "It's been the standard treatment for acute injury and chronic injury since the 70s," said Ty Hopkins, a professor at Brigham Young University, who was not part of the study. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_138077.html