Are you in pain? Are you confused if you should manage your pain with heat or ice? Lets decode this for you and teach you what to use when.

Heat or thermo therapy helps boost and increase the local and superficial tissue temperature, which causes dilation of blood vessels (vasodilation). This improves and increases the blood supply locally in the area where heat is applied which causes relaxation of the muscles and other soft tissues around the joints which soothes the nervous system and helps reduce pain and stiffness. Heated water bags, electric heating pads, hot baths, etc are common and some popular age-old techniques that are believed to help manage pain. Heat works great with chronic pain , stiffness and spasms.

Application of heated water bags, moist heat pack, electric heating pads, hot towels, hot baths, hot showers, immersion of a distal body part in a tub/bucket filled with hot water.

Ideal temperature range should be around 40-45 degree Celsius (or as tolerated). Anything higher than that will cause burn risk.

10-15 mins per application – 2-3 times a day or as needed.

Do not apply on a swollen body part, fresh injury or if there is redness and warmth. Remember! You don’t want to heat up an already warmed up tissue. Additionally don’t use heat if you have numbness in the body part and cannot feel temperatures or sensations, if you have open wounds or if you have vascular deficits. Use with caution and frequent visual inspections if you are a diabetic.

Ice or Cryotherapy is another form of modality used to manage pain. What ice application does is, it initially reduces the blood flow to the injured through constriction of the blood vessels (vasoconstriction). This helps reduce the local pressure on the injured tissues and the surrounding structures as a result of swelling and inflammation that was caused because of a recent injury or inflammation from a chronic condition. You can think about this as cooling down an angry area in the body (viz the injured body part). Cryotherapy is also a numbing agent and acts as a local anesthetic.

Apply gel ice packs or make your own with crushed ice and water sealed in a bag. Gently massage the injured area with an ice cube, immersion of distal body part in a tub/buckets with ice chips and cold water.

Ideal temperature should be around 0-1.7 degree Celsius or as tolerated. Anything lower will put you at a risk for ischemia.

15 mins for 2-3 times a day or as needed

Don’t put ice directly on your skin, wrap it up in a piece of cloth/plastic and apply petroleum jelly on your skin to protect it. Use ice with caution if you are a diabetic, frequent visual inspections are recommended. Avoid using ice if you have vascular insufficiency.

Remember to listen to your body. If you have symptom exacerbation with any of these methods, discontinue use and consult your healthcare provider.