Putting ice on injury may prevent healing

For many years people have been told that by putting a bag of frozen peas on a torn or sprain muscles could reduce the swelling. But in new study researchers have found that a hormone created by inflamed tissue could help in healing the damaged muscle.

This invention twists the conservative perception that swelling must be controlled to encourage healing on its head. The new findings could escort to treatment for severe muscle injuries due to trauma, infections, chemicals, freeze damage and exposure to medication that causes muscle damage as a side effect.

They think that their finding motivate further research to cut apart various roles played by tissue inflammation in clinical settings, so they can utilize the  optimistic  effects and control negative effects of tissue inflammation, explained researcher Lan Zhou from the Neuroinflammation Research Centre at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

The team led by Prof Zhou found that inflamed cells generate a high level of a hormone known as insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) which considerably raises the rate of muscle regeneration. The detection could also alter how much patient observation is required when powerful anti-inflammatory medicines are prescribed over a long period.

In a lab study researchers studied two groups of mice. The first group was altered genetically so they could not form an inflammatory reaction to an injury. The second group was normal. All mice were then injected with barium chloride to cause muscle injury.

It was found that the first group of mice did not heal, but the bodies of the second group repaired the injury. When their muscle tissues were studied it was revealed that healthy mice created greater levels of IGF-1 in their swollen tissue. Muscle inflammation after acute injury is necessary to repair, reported he study published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology journal.