Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Ice Vibe Boots - The Theory

Okie Doke.  While Prair is enjoying some well deserved time off and while I sit inside since its raining in the desert (still).  Might as well geek out a bit on the latest tack ho acquisition.

The Ice Vibe Boots.  Anyone have any experience with these things? They seem super sneaky and pretty cool and I kind of wish I had pulled the trigger on them earlier in Prair's rehab process.  But no matter - no time like the present to catch up on absurd purchases :)

So the Ice Vibes.  They are made by Horseware, which means we have access to one of their direct reps (and that can be interpreted as either access to a good deal, or access to peer pressure for all the cool things).   Basically they function both as a traditional ice boot and a sonicare toothbrush.  Why the combo?  Here's a blurb from their own site:
Ice-vibe can improve the realignment of the tendon fibres during the healing process. Cooling on it's own only prevents inflammation by resisting blood flow and slows down the metabolism. Ice-vibe uses the combination of cold and vibration which minimises swelling while encouraging blood flow and speeds up healing.


(silly English spelling)

Big promises for such a reasonably priced boot...($280ish for the pair).
 


During Prair's rehab one of the biggest challenges was reducing inflammation while still encouraging increased bloodflow.  All of you who have nursed a soft tissue injury in the lower limb know how hauntingly sparse circulation is down there - and any blood flow is helpful to healing...

but inflammation on its own can cause problems... so what are you to do? 

For Prair the stall rest (and reduced movement) was the primary "anti inflammation" treatment, while fairly aggressive (and sedated) walks were how we tried to encourage increased bloodflow.  Prair stopped all anti-inflam medicine (previcox, bute, etc..) which then had me worried how to keep her back comfy during this whole process. 

Whether it helped or not, part of my plan was to just plaster the mare in Back on Track products to help increases/normalize circulation without causing too much heat... 

So this is where the Ice Vibes would have perhaps been helpful.  Cooling to reduce the inflammation, then vibration to stimulate circulation.... (Sounds like an Icy Hot commercial..)

A few ladies in the barn have tried these (one with her reiner with another trainer) and they swear by them.  Seems to be a baby version of the Theraplate... something that I've heard lots of good reviews on...

The boots have varying levels of intensity in theory for different purposes (again from their site)
Level 1 - Treatment of inflammation with cold pack
Level 2 - Rehabilitation
Level 3 - Boosts Circulation
So I like the idea of them.  Especially at long shows where Prair is potentially getting sore/tired...

Will be sure to get you a full report once I actually strap them to the pony's legs... but for now I am intrigued.

7 comments:

  1. A girl at my barn bought them for her gelding that has shin splints, and she was was pleased. I've heard good things about them too, keeping my fingers crossed that they help Prair :)

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  2. interesting!! you should try them on yourself too - they sound nice!

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  3. I've been lucky enough to avoid needing something like this for the present. Will look for your review.

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  4. It'll be interesting to see what you think. It fundamentally doesn't make sense to me--ice vasoconstricts. Vibration vasodilates. It seems as though the vibration would to some degree cancel out the ice. I found what Dr. Ramey had to say interesting and useful: http://www.doctorramey.com/increasing-circulation/

    I ice Red's legs after every jump school (though given the weather, jump schools seem like a distant memory).

    I'll look forward to your review, as I always do. Seriously considering pulling the trigger on a TSF girth for the red horse after reading your thoughts.

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  5. I've been intrigued by them as well, so I'm interested to hear a full report once you've had time to try them more.

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  6. Very interesting, can't wait to hear more of your thoughts on them!

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  7. Heck, I want to try them on my broken back! I'm still rehabbing three months post-injury and have frustrating days. Icy-hot has been my protocol (as in, Biofreeze + a heating pad) and it sure does help...

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