Cryotherapy Tip #1 - Plastic Bottles
- jim41209
- Mar 27
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 1
When it comes to treating and recovering from surgery and injuries, one of the things I've found most helpful over time was to reuse plastic water bottles by filling with water and freezing them.
There are several benefits to this practice:
1) If you're using a Polar Products Active Ice setup, you can save a lot of money, time and mess. The frozen bottles tend to stay colder longer, you don't need to use as much water in the cooler and swapping them out is a piece of cake.
2) Whether you're going on a picnic or just want to keep your lunch cold, the frozen bottles help to keep everything chilled inside of your ice chest or meal carrier. I've even gone so far is to put them into my trail hiking packs to keep food and water chilled while adventuring. Also, a bit of ice in your pack on hot days feels pretty darn good along the back and spine.
3) Ice Massage - One of the first, first aid skills I learned a long time ago was to use ice to help treat a variety of first aid related injuries. 1st & 2nd degree burns, bug bites and stings, and sore muscles to name a few. The technique is simple, just take the frozen bottle and place it in contact with the area in question, and move it back forth over the area, slowly chilling the injury to a comfortable temperature. Relief is temporary but it can make a big difference.
4) From an environmental standpoint it just makes sense to reuse items instead of adding to a landfill. You're also using water more responsibly, which can make a difference in areas where water isn't as readily available or in shorter supply.
I found the 12 to 20-ounce size bottles the easiest to work with. I like Gatorade bottles the best because the plastic is thicker allowing them to hold up well to repeated use.
Typically, you can fill the bottle to about 3/4 full, allowing for just enough space to keep from popping the top off when the water begins to freeze and expand.
More helpful Cryotherapy posts are on the way.
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