![]() “Taken together, the findings of this study indicated that thermotherapy and cryotherapy caused low back pain to be relieved. ![]() There is even credible evidence that a combination of heat and cold therapy may be good for low back pain. This type of therapy is typically used when an injury is at a week or longer maturity, and heat or ice alone has not worked. This alternation between heat and cold may result in an improved range of motion and expedited pain recovery. Heat therapy will usually ease the muscle stiffness after the inflammation resolves.īut heat and ice can be used together in an alternating pattern to create a “pumping” action in the circulatory system by restricting circulation to reduce swelling and then increasing circulation to a particular area. When you have a muscle strain, cold therapy may ease the inflammation and numb the pain. Many medical professionals suggest alternating between cold and heat therapy in order to best manage your pain.įor example, check out this very informative and helpful chart provided by the Cleveland Clinic. It may also involve taking a hot bath or using a steamed towel.īut did you know there is a combination therapy which utilizes both cold and hot therapy? Heat therapy may involve applying a heating pad or maybe even going into a sauna. This increased circulation, in turn, will usually provide the nutrients the body needs to recover and reduce pain. Hot temperatures widen blood vessels, which usually promotes circulation. “There is more support to use heat for back pain, because muscle tightness tends to predominate,” according to Harvard Health. It is also reported to be great for chronic low back pain as well as chronic pain in general. Heat is sometimes used to alleviate muscle stiffness and pain. Unlike cold therapy, heat therapy increases the flow of blood and nutrients to various areas of the body. Essentially, cold therapy may be good for pain. ![]() It can also reduce nerve activity, which may also provide some pain relief. The cold temperature may also numb sharp pain. When the blood vessels constrict, blood circulation is slowed which in turn reduces redness, swelling, spasms and pain. Many star athletes, including LeBron James and Rafael Nadal use cryotherapy (particularly whole body cryotherapy (WBC)) to speed up injury recovery, reduce inflammation, reduce muscle spasms and more.Ĭold therapy promotes vasoconstriction or constriction of the blood vessels. (With certain injuries, the general treatment routine usually falls under “ R.I.C.E.,” rest, ice, compression, elevation). Cryotherapy, sometimes referred to as cold therapy, has become a pretty popular treatment for pain these days. You are probably very familiar with applying an ice pack on a rolled ankle to reduce swelling or maybe on an injured knee. So clearly it’s important for us all to be proactive about pain management and explore credible alternative therapies to alleviate pain.Two pain relieving therapies are cryotherapy and thermography. Now opioids have contributed to a drug epidemic in America. Sometimes pain is managed with highly addictive drugs called opioids. More specifically, there are 50 million Americans with chronic pain and 20 million with high-impact pain.Īnd despite “decades of research, chronic pain remains poorly understood and notoriously hard to control,” ( WebMD). Unfortunately, according to recent data, chronic pain affects 20 percent of Americans. Some even say it may be “better to die once and for all than to suffer pain for all one’s life.” Pain can be intense and really affects the quality of your life. If you are breathing, chances are you have experienced some type of physical pain in your life whether it be due to injury or having some type of chronic health condition such as arthritis or fibromyalgia.
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