A word of caution: never apply direct ice to any body region. The experts at Ideal Spine often recommend heat and cold therapy to patients experiencing back pain. As far as timing, ice approximately for 10-20 minutes with at least a 1 hour break between icings. Those who suffer from heart disease or hypertension. If you feel an increase in pain and swelling, go back to using ice for another day or two. When you suffer a traumatic injury, the body tries to protect itself by creating inflammation to help it heal. Confused whether you should use ice or heat for your back pain? Hot vs. Cold: Which Temperature Should You Use and Why? –. It might be useful to alternate between the two for pain relief and to promote healing. Heat sedates muscles and joints, and cold drives out inflammation. Below is some valuable information to help you decide if you should use ice or heat.
If you need more clarification about when heat or ice would be the most beneficial, discuss it with your chiropractor during your next visit. If you have any more than momentary discomfort, add layers of toweling successively until you are comfortable. Heat works in an opposite way to ice where instead of reducing blood flow, it increases blood flow to the injured area. Heat will relax the tissue and help bring blood to the area to help combat the feeling of tightness and stiffness. Heat or ice after hip replacement surgery. Cold therapy (cryotherapy) and warm compresses (thermotherapy) are common self-treatment options for many painful problems. Cold therapy is one of the most common types of therapy immediately following an injury that has left you with swelling and residual pain.
Your feet suddenly lose traction and your legs fly out from under you, leaving you to land on a hard layer of ice and concrete. Applying ice is often recommended after an injury because cold temperature can reduce the inflammation in the affected area. Ice is appropriate for injuries like acute (within the first 2 weeks) sprains, strains, and bruises, inflamed joints such as an irritated rib, and tendonitis.
If you would like to discuss any concerns, have any enquires or wish to book an appointment; feel free to contact one of our friendly staff on 9300 0095 or visit our website at. A chiropractor may be able to create a more comprehensive treatment plan for you, including adjustments, exercise, physical therapy, stretching, and massages, in addition to at-home pain relief treatments. General rule after an injury is immediately apply ice on the affected area for 20 minutes. Both are quite beneficial when used for the right application at the right time. Treatment should last about 20-30 mins and should never reach the point of pain. Heat is a vasocilator (it opens up blood vessels), thus supplying greater blood flow that carries oxygen and nutrients to joints and muscles. Consistency is key when it comes to getting the most out of icing, particularly in those imperative first few days after an injury. Never apply ice directly to the skin without some sort of layer in between to avoid frostbite. Ice after chiropractic adjustment. We can successfully diagnose and treat slip and fall injuries. This helps to warm the area back up, plus brings in extra blood cells to help begin the healing process more quickly.
It's also your body's red light warning sign that something is haywire. If you are unaware of the cause of your pain, ALWAYS start with ice. Heat enhances blood flow, which is soothing and promotes healing. Ice vs. Heat and When to Use Each. Current research on using ice has determined that it can inhibit the production of certain processes that help regenerate muscle tissue and slow down the production of collagen. When in doubt, start icing for a few rounds of 20 on/20 off and if nothing happens then transition to heat! PAIN CONTROL THROUGH ICE/HEAT APPLICATION. Contact us today and talk to a licensed chiropractor for tips on how we use ice-heat therapy to help heal and sooth many conditions. And on this channel, we do how to videos, chiropractic adjustment demonstrations, as well as explaining different types of injuries and the treatments needed to get you better fast.
Therefore, we want to use ICE because it can help slow down the inflammatory process. As with most things, the answer is that it depends. They contour well to most body regions and can be used over and over again. Ice reduces blood flow by constricting blood vessels, so it should be used when you want to decrease circulation to an inflamed area. Read the full article by Andrew Moeller, here: Ice in the first 24 to 72 hours. So, when should you use heat? The "pumping" action of successive cold/heat treatment has been shown to effectively reduce swelling in cases of "hard edema" and chronic inflammation. Alternating heat and ice. When Not to Use Heat Therapy. Harmon Family Chiropractic - Chiropractor in Jasper, IN US :: Home Ice or Heat Therapy Instructions. With that being said, let's jump right into the content and answer the age-old question of "Should you heat, or should you ice your back pain? " Ice can be used every 2 hours at most, for a duration of 20 minutes or until the area becomes numb, whichever comes first. Ice vs Heat Therapy. An example is having someone else move your arm for you). Use heat if you need to relax muscles, promote blood flow, and remember it is best for chronic injuries.
Moist Heat – also known as convection heat and this includes courses such as steamed towel, moist heating packs or hot baths. If only applied for a short amount of time, the skin will warm up, but the muscle will not. Heating pads are dry heat and can often burn skin as well as put unnecessary pressure on nerve endings, which will only increases your pain. 4] Apply moist heat for 10 minutes, ice for 10 minutes, and then moist heat for 10 minutes. Heat reduces pain and swelling with the same neuro pathway as ice. Do you ice, or do you heat? After the initial swelling and inflammation has eased, applying heat therapy will encourage healing in your lower back. Pain is an equal opportunity annoyer. Heat helps to stimulates blood flow in the area of injury, thereby allowing the inflammatory mediators and damaged cells to be removed whilst bringing oxygen and nutrients to help repair the damaged tissues. This can be achieved with a hot water bottle wrapped in a moist towel, or a nice warm bath. That's just one example, and please realize that every case is different, but that case study happens much more often (literally 15:1) than the vice versa. Types of Thermotherapy. Dry Heat – also known as conducted heat therapy and this includes sources such as dry heat packs, heating pads and even saunas.