This is one of the newest first aid technologies in the last 5 years. It’s a very unique product designed for sprains, strains, fractures, joint pain, inflammation, and swelling.
When a sprain occurs there’s usually swelling, inflammation, pain, and bruising. A sprained ankle means one or more ligaments were stretched or torn. If a sprain is not treated properly, you could have long-term problems. Usually, this occurs when it does not heal properly which happens quite often. If it's a severe sprain, you might have felt a "pop" when the injury happened.
In fact, sprains will occur more frequently until surgery is required. Using a brace and/or crutches will not help the ligaments to heal properly. Typically, the ankle is rolled either inward (inversion sprain) or outward (eversion sprain). If it's a severe sprain, you might have felt a "pop" when the injury happened.
In order to minimize pain, swelling, and inflammation, the injury needs to be cooled and compressed for a minimum of 48 hours. We are familiar with the first aid procedure called R.I.C.E. which has been around for many years.
There are a few downsides to this method.
- Ice is too cold directly on the skin and it’s very difficult to apply ice and compression for 48 hours consecutively
- Ice does not help to break down bruising and usually there still swelling and inflammation with using ice.
- Ice immobilizes the individual where no work or activities can be performed. These types of injuries also cause 40% of all lost work time and cause companies thousands. It takes weeks to heal too.
How Does Wrap It Cool Work?
The wrap is 2 meters long. It can be cut to size and then resealed to reuse. You can also purchase a bottle of Recharge to resoak and reuse the wrap another 4 plus times. The wrap is soaked in a liquid of 4 ingredients: menthol, ethyl alcohol, calendula, and arnica.
Menthol which is the main product in other creams like Bengay, Icy HOT, or Biofreeze but what they’re not telling you is that it’s just a placebo; it does not cool but only gives the sensation of cooling and is NOT an anti-inflammatory. But menthol does open up the pores to allow the other products to penetrate quicker.
Now ice can be a shock to the system and you can usually only handle about 15 mins of direct ice and the body actually cools itself through evaporation. So the wrap actually uses ethyl alcohol to evaporate heat. It’s easier and more effective than ice.
One hour of wearing the wrap equals more than 6 hours of cooling!
Calendula and arnica are natural products that are anti-inflammatories and arnica is the only product known to break down bruising. This is the only product that removes heat, inflammation, swelling, pain, and bruising. It is also great for just joint pain or carpal tunnel.
Walking on the sprain can actually help minimize the scar tissue. “Old school” first aid states to stay off it. That is not necessarily true. It will take longer to heal. Too much use of the ankle can increase swelling so be wise.
For proper wrapping of the ankle to heal the ligaments properly, make sure to attend one of our Injury Treatment courses. You won’t get this training and information anywhere else!