Reusable Gel Ice Packs for Ankle & Foot with Compression Band

• Pain relief: the ankle and feet have the function of supporting the entire body weight and the onslaught of physical demands when exerting oneself at home or at work, they also help balance the body and provide traction to the legs in sports practices. All of this, at some point, will lead to fatigue and injuries that will be painful for the most part. This model of bag adjusts to the shape of the ankle and foot to reduce pain and all the symptoms associated with the original discomfort.
• Reduce inflammation: this is a natural process that divides the affected cells in the joint and components of the foot, when these cells are separated, a liquid is generated that inflames the internal tissues. Although it is a normal cycle to protect the affected area, this swelling generates intense pain in many cases. The cold transmitted by the thermal gel pack reduces inflammation and prevents complications in the damaged area of the limb.
• Accelerates recovery: although at the beginning of an injury it is convenient to use cold, it should not always be applied to injuries. Heat has better properties for a body that needs to recover quickly from a chronic injury. Heat is used on a low scale with thermal bags like the one we show you today, and also on a large scale with thermotherapies. Now the benefits of thermotherapy are at your fingertips with this bag because you can use heat for old injuries from the comfort of your home.
• Injury prevention: A great way to prevent new injuries is to place cold on the ankle when you know you took a bad step or received a hard blow. Often, the consequence of a minor blow comes out the next day after the injury when you notice the foot swelling and bruising. The gel pack will prevent this reaction after the sports activity, so the ankle and foot will be ready for another day of intense training.
• Compression: as a plus of this product, now you have a thick Velcro strap that serves to keep the bag fixed on the ankle, without slipping, and works as a compression garment. If you don't know, compression is one of the steps of the PRICE method to treat minor injuries. With the gel bag you now have the possibility to provide first aid like a professional physiotherapist. You just need to know in detail the time of use of the cold to avoid complications.
• Improve sports performance: What is the secret to be the best athlete? Avoid injuries, it's as simple as that. That's why it's important that you have tools like this hot/cold gel pack because you'll have on hand a method of avoiding injuries and continuing to train for your next race competition. When you are down due to injury, you lose time, get delayed in training and when you come back you have to start from scratch, so the best thing to do is to prevent yourself from getting injured.
• Improves blood circulation: one of the advantages of applying heat is that you achieve a process of vasoconstriction, which consists of dilating the veins, vessels and arteries so that blood flows better in the body and is directed to all muscle groups and joints, including the ankle and joints in the toes. To increase the blood irrigation, is to favor the recovery and regeneration of damaged cells in the incident you have had.
• Cellular activation: as we have already mentioned, only the heat on the foot will cause healthy cells to multiply and replace the affected cells. This is a slow and natural process of the body, but you can speed it up with the proper use of heat and sometimes with the use of combination therapies, a technique you will learn more about later in this article. If the foot remains tense, the cellular activation process cannot begin.
• Bruising: is internal bleeding in the skin, but can also occur in the muscles and bones. They usually appear after a blow or fall to the ground of the person. We see a bruise when blood vessels rupture under the dermis and these can last a little more than two weeks in the most serious cases. By cooling the gel pack and placing it on the skin, you will stop the bruise from expanding and control the pain and swelling that accompanies this symptom.

Cold therapy

• When to apply cold? This is a therapy well known for its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, the use of cold began to be used in the late 70's in the sports world for its efficiency in controlling minor injuries. Therefore, this gel pack is highly recommended by specialists if you want to minimize the initial symptoms of a physical muscle, tendon and ligament injury. Whether you are at home, at work or in the middle of a training session, whenever you suffer an injury you should treat it with this gel pack, you just need to know the correct time of use and the contraindications that this therapy has and that you will know later. You should never use cold on the feet when there is an open wound, when you have hypersensitivity to cold and when the injury is a fracture or sprain of III degree.
• How to use cold? This bag replaces the classic bag of peas taken from the freezer and the typical ice wrapped in a handkerchief. The materials with which this gel bag is manufactured allow the correct and effective transmission of cold on the skin and it has a protective fabric to prevent burns, although if you misuse it, there will surely be a negative reaction. Start with applying cold for 10 to 15 minutes, then give the foot and ankle a rest for at least another 5 minutes. You should not apply cold on the skin for more than 20 minutes, so you avoid a process of numbness of that part of the body and a freezing effect of tissues. This cycle can be repeated once every hour in the most severe cases, but the ideal would be to use cold three times a day.

Heat therapy

• When to apply heat? Heat also works to reduce pain in injuries, but this time we are talking about chronic injuries due to muscle and joint wear and tear over the years. Soccer players, people who work on their feet all day and car drivers will suffer over the years from the onslaught of overwork on the ankle and feet. Joint weakness is a sign that you need heat to soothe the pain. It is contraindicated to use heat after strenuous activity, such as jogging or running. It is also not recommended to use heat in injuries with open wounds or when there are allergic reactions or any type of infection in the skin. Keep in mind that using heat is more complex than using cold for the treatment of injuries associated with degenerative diseases, so it is advisable that you have the opinion of a specialist.
• How to use heat? Although this type of bag is better used for cold than for heat, the product we want you to know also works if you apply heat to the foot and ankle. Start by putting the bag in a water bath (15-20 minutes) or in the microwave (30 seconds), you want the bag to be hot but not boiling. You must be sure that the heat is well distributed in the gel so that there are no burns, use your hands to move this thermal gel. Now you must place the bag on the ankle or foot, where you have the discomfort due to the injury suffered. You should only apply this therapy for a maximum of 15-20 minutes and then give the skin a rest.

Contrast therapy

• When to apply cold and heat? This mixture of cold and heat is one of the most effective ways to achieve a rehabilitation of the foot and ankle in case of chronic injuries, when it has not been possible to have a full recovery and wear due to intense and constant activity. It is excellent for vascular diseases, muscle weakening and treatment of joint components such as cartilage, which do not have the ability to regenerate on their own. What is sought is to activate the immune nervous system, train the circulatory system and achieve a complementary relief when drugs are not effective enough to soothe the symptoms of that permanent injury to the lower extremities.
• How to use hot and cold? Instead of one bag, it is advisable to have two bags of gel to apply the therapy more quickly and effectively, which is how it really takes effect. The time lapse between one technique and the other is only 5 minutes, while the duration of each temperature is only 3 minutes. Although if your doctor suggests it, you can also apply heat for a maximum of 15-20 minutes and you can have the cold pack for 15 minutes, as if you were applying the therapy separately. It is advisable to be at rest, sitting or lying down, so that the therapy has a greater positive effect, it is a method with medium and long term results because it addresses more complex and slow recovery injuries.

Before using this product, you should be sure why you need it: will you use it at home, do you have a degenerative disease, do you want to overcome an injury? As long as you know the purpose you wish to achieve, we are sure that there will be no minimum of contraindications in the use of this garment.

Check out this list of the most common risk factors when using the hot/cold gel pack that is designed to offer relief and comfort to the ankle and foot in case of injury.

• Do not apply to an open or infected wound.
• Do not apply to patients with vascular disorders, unless under medical supervision.
• Do not apply if you suffer from circulatory or nervous disorders, unless under medical supervision.
• Do not apply to sensitive or irritated skin.

We know that you want to clarify more doubts about this product, so we prepared a couple of basic questions whose answers you should know in order to make better use of the product, without fear of consequences in its application.

• Can they burn your skin? Yes, but it is rare and when a burn occurs, it is because the gel pack has been misused by exceeding the time suggested in the indications for both hot and cold use.
• Can they be toxic? In the history of use of this bag, there are no reports of damage to the ankle or foot poisoning by the use of this product. But you should always be vigilant that there are no leaks to prevent the hot gel from falling on the skin and causing burns.

Throughout this article, we have offered you suggestions and possible scenarios of use of the thermal gel pack that we want you to know in depth and that is recommended by specialists. If you have additional doubts about specific use cases, it is best if you have the support of a clinical specialist or a physiotherapist, they will give you more clarity about the potential of this pain relief product.