Cryotherapy May Slow Injury Recovery, McGill Study Finds

A McGill University preclinical study in mice shows that icing injuries (cryotherapy) can reduce pain early but may impair the body’s healing, with some cases’ recovery times more than doubling. The results add to concerns about anti-inflammatory strategies like icing and the RICE protocol, though human relevance is not yet established and a clinical trial is testing icing effects after procedures such as wisdom tooth removal.