Originally Posted by Iron

It's the swelling that contributes to the healing. Please go back and read through the whole article. Anything that reduces the inflammatory response slows healing whether it's with ice or NSAID drugs. It's this immune response that does the healing. If you hamper it, you hamper the body's way of healing itself. There's a purpose for the swelling. Swelling also has the effect of immobolizing the particular joint as another way of protecting the healing process.

We've been indoctrinated all our lives into thinking that if we stop the swelling than the injured part must be better because it's no longer swollen. How crazy is that? What's bad about having a swollen part? I mean the swelling itself? Nothing other than it might make it harder to put our shoes or whatever on. See how we've been conditioned to believe something to the point that to even question it seems wrong??