Tuesday, October 29, 2019

When to apply heat or ice for treating pain and injury

Ice vs heat therapy

We all are prone to suffer from pain and injuries from time to time. Either it is due to sitting for hours at the desk or is caused after an intense workout session. Any of these can lead to discomfort in your back, knees, and other major joints making you restless. Most of the people reach out for balm or painkillers for some relief, but another way to get rid of pain is heat or cold compression. Using ice or heat on inflammation or joint pain is far better than popping pills and you can easily do it at home. The tricky part is when to apply hot and when to apply cold compression on your area of concern.

Ice therapy
Ice therapy is primarily for acute pain, inflammation and any kind of new injuries. If you get hurt or injured while playing football or running, then you should opt for cold compress. When ice is applied to the swollen area, it helps to narrow blood vessels and reduce inflammation. Inflammation caused after a gruelling workout session should be treated with an ice compress. Applying heat in this situation can backfire as it can increase the swelling, preventing your muscles from healing.
 
When not to use ice therapy
1. You should avoid it when there is a risk of cramping as ice can make it even worse.
2. Do not apply ice on an open wound or blistered skin.
3. Avoid ice therapy if you are suffering from vascular disease.
4. Ice is not recommended for people suffering from arthritis.

How to apply ice
There are two ways to apply ice on your injury.
1. Ice cubes in a sealed bag.
2. Wet towel in the freezer for 15 minutes.

When you do ice therapy, do not do it for more than 20 minutes at a time. Keep a gap of an hour between two sessions and never place ice directly on your skin.
Heat therapy
Heat therapy is excellent way to manage chronic pain and injury that is not swollen. Using heat on the swollen area can make the inflammation worse and your injury will not heal. Heat treatment works excellent if your muscles are tense or stiff. It helps to increase flexibility, but do not take heat therapy after exercising. Heat therapy improves circulation and blood flow to a particular area by increasing the temperature. An increase in temperature can soothe discomfort and flex the muscle.

When not to use heat therapy
There are certain situations when you should completely avoid applying heat to your concerned area. Making this mistake can make the situation worse.
1. If you are suffering from diabetes
2. If you have dermatitis
3. If you are suffering from vascular diseases
Moreover, if you are suffering from heart disease or hypertension, consult your doctor before using heat therapy.

How to apply heat
There are two ways to apply ice therapy :
1. Dry heat like heating pads, dry heating packs, and saunas.
2. Moist heat like steamed towel, moist heating pads or hot bath.
Apply heat on a joint or muscle for 15 minutes and then take an hour break.

When to use both
There are certain situations when you need to use both ice and heat therapy consecutively. 

Upper back pain
Back pain is very common among people stuck with a desk job. Sitting all day long at the same place in the same posture can cause bending, twisting, stiffness in your upper back. For relief, you should apply ice to the area for 72 hours and then use heat to reduce tightness and increases flexibility

Lower back pain
Lower back pain is a result of strains or over-exertion. The stiff muscles prevent the free flow of blood in the body. Both ice and heat can help to get relief from lower back pain. Apply ice for 72 hours then turn to heat therapy for relaxing tight muscles. 

Headaches
For throbbing headaches and migraines, ice therapy is the best, while for headaches caused by neck spasms, heat therapy can be a great alternative.

Knee pain
Knee pain can be caused due to several reasons like sprain, cartilage tears, tendonitis or runner’s knee. If your knee is swollen then you should apply ice for at least 72 hours to reduce the inflammation. After this apply heat to the area to regain mobility.

Caution
If you do not get relief, even after taking ice or heat therapy, it is best to consult your doctor as your pain may be due to some underlying health issue. 

 this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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