Using Hot and Cold therapy for Pain Relief

Ice is best used for an acute injury. Something that happened recently. With an acute injury, patients have inflammation to the area that was injured. Here are some examples of acute injuries:

• You were in a car accident and sufferered whiplash to the neck area
  
• You sprained your ankle while playing soccer
  
• You fell on the ice and landed on your knee
  
• You strained your lower back while shoveling your driveway
  

How do you know you have acute inflammation going on:

• The affected injured area feels warmer to touch than the surrounding areas
  
• There is a change in color of the area- usually redness
  
• There is swelling present, and you can see it and feel it with your fingers.
  

Cold therapy when used in acute conditions aids in:

• decreasing swelling and inflammation
  
• decreasing redness and the irritation
  
• provides an analgesic affect- reducing and numbing the pain
  
• Ice acts as a vaso constrictor, narrowing blood vessels and decreases internal bleeding in an area
  

**In general, ice is appropriate for acute stage care, but listen to your body! If ice seems ineffective, or if you feel worse after 5-10 minutes, discontinue use and consult your Doctor.

Heat Therapy should be used for mostly chronic conditions. Here are some examples of when heat therapy can be beneficial:

• You have arthritis in the lower back and suffer from lower back pain
  
• You have stiffness in your muscles
  
• In the morning to loosen joints before activity
  
• To increase blood flow to an area
  
• Your pain increases as the weather becomes colder
  
• Relax tight muscles and muscle spasms
  

There are many benefits to using heat therapy on a certain area. Heat aids in:

• bringing increased circulation to an area
  
• bringing fresh nutrients to an area that is healing
  
• relaxes chronically stiff muscles and joints to improve function
  
• provides a feeling of warmth and pain relief to an area
  

So you have a mild sprain on your left ankle, and you need to put ice on it right away. What do you do? Do you reach for your freezer and pick up a bag of ice and just put it on your ankle, or maybe its the frozen peas. Both options are okay but it is highly adivisable that you put you a towel between your skin and the ice pack.

Apply ice to the affected area for no more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Allow the skin temperature to return to normal before icing a second or third time.

Apply ice (wrapped in a thin towel for comfort)to the affected area for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Allow the skin temperature to return to normal before icing a second or third time. You can ice an acute injury several times a day for up to three days.

A better option is to use a gel ice pack that you keep in the freezer for occasions like this. If the ice pack has a cloth covering, you can usually put it directly on your skin, but this is not recommended, because you don't want to get frost bit on your skin or do further damage. Also get an ice pack that fits the area that you are treating. If you are icing your lower back, use something a little bigger like a 10x13 ice pack.

Also, some health professionals use ice directly on the skin. Usually the water has been frozen in a little paper cup, and they peel the paper away, and they massage the area in a circular pattern. You can do this at home- but don't leave the ice in one spot, and massage into the area.

Okay so i know growing up we had a hot water bottle in the house. We would add hot hot water to it and apply to the area of need. But it was cumbersome, took time to prepare, and also fell off the area we were treating. The gel packs work great as a hot pack. Simply keep one in your medicine cabinet and put it into the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Don't overheat. Then wrap a towel (or two) around the heat pack and apply to the area you need it. 15-20 minutes at a time is a safe time.

Another option is thermal heating pack. You know, the ones you plug in. I am not a huge fan of these, but some people prefer to just plug in and get the treatment they need.Use a thermal heating pack for no more than 20 minutes at a time. Be careful, its easy to fall asleep while getting heat treatment. So have a timer or automatic shut off at the 20 minute mark.

Use an ice pack that is long that will cover the top part of your neck and also around your neck. For example, a 6"x20" hot/cold packworks great.

Okay so you need a hot and cold pack that is slightly bigger. One that will cover your neck, and upper back and shoulders. You also want it to be flexible enough especially in the area of the shoulders so you can be comfortable. I would recommend the Trisectional hot and cold pack for this purpose. The dimensions are 9" x 16", and it covers the desired area perfectly. You neck and shoulders will have great coverage. This hot and cold pack will be slightly heavier, so keep that in mind.

If you looking for a smaller hot and cold pack- great for an elbow or a knee or a finger- use the 3"x5" hot and cold pack. Covers what you need for the purpose you need it for.

For the lower back or the mid back area, you will need to have a larger hot and cold pack- preferabaly something as large as a 10"x 13" pack. This pack is a rectangle pack that fits perfectly on your lower back, your midback, your upper back even on one shoulder. This hot and cold pack is very versatile and I highly recommend it.