Using the Aircast Cryocuff for Injury Rehabilitation

Physiotherapy management of knee injuries and knee operations requires a good way of applying cryotherapy to counter the swelling and pain involved. The Aircast Cryocuff gives physiotherapists this option as traditional ways of applying cold are clumsy and not very effective.

Physiotherapists commonly assess and treat knee injuries and post-operative knee conditions, managing them promptly for speedy recovery and return to normal function. Recreational activities and sport involve many knee injuries such as ligamentous injuries to the medial, lateral and anterior cruciate ligaments, meniscal injuries to the knee cartilages, dislocation of the kneecap and injury to the knee capsule and knee joint replacement.

The knee is a large, synovial hinge joint which is vulnerable to mechanical injury and when injured it reacts with an inflammatory process. This increases the blood supply and metabolic rate of the knee and the synovial lining starts to secrete synovial fluid, a process which forms a knee effusion. This is "water on the knee", a swollen knee with synovial fluid making the knee painful and tight, which can interfere with normal functioning of the knee muscles and cause slow recovery of joint function.

There are serveral disadvantages of traditional methods of cryotherapy and compression. Both cold and compression need to be provided and this is hard to achieve Most ice based methods do not cool the knee effectively The skin can however develop an ice burn from overcooling at ice temperatures Compression is difficult to provide along with the cooling Patients have difficulties keeping the cooling going for any length of time Cooling cannot easily be done whilst mobilizing.

Physiotherapy treatment priorities have always tended towards cooling the area to reduce the swelling, but prevention of the effusion by early compression may be more important. However, physios do need to provide cooling along with the compression.

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