After Achilles tendon surgery, patients who iced plus exercised felt better faster, but later had more re-tears and weaker strength than those who only exercised. Ice may block inflammation needed for healing.
I did see a study with Achilles, actually. It was kind of a small study, so you have to take it with a grain of salt. But there was 2 groups. One group did— this was an Achilles tendon repair, so they had surgery. And the first group did just exercise, and the second group did ice and exercise. And what they found is the group that iced, they kind of— they felt better sooner. No surprise, because you're basically desensitizing it, desensitizing the nerve endings. But in the long term, they had higher retear rates and poor strength outcomes, which kind of makes sense. If, if you're icing it like crazy, and maybe you're blocking some of those inflammatory cytokines, and I just, I don't think that's the right way to do it. I think you're just going to heal back a little bit weaker.
