When to use Ice or Heat on an injury.

[Domnik]

Hey everybody, I currently run a science blog ( url removed by moderator ) and after writing this article I felt like I should share it with more people!

 

Many of us like to live a healthy lifestyle and by that I mean staying active. Although being humans we can sometimes do the wrong thing and cause some pretty bad damage, whether it's a broken bone or a sprained ankle you should know the answer to the question we commonly ask ourselves.. Do I use heat or ice!?

 

First we must understand 2 forms of pain.. Acute pain and Chronic pain.

 

Acute Pain: Acute pain is usually sudden and can usually be sharp pain in quantity.

 

Examples of Acute Pain:

 

• Surgery
• Broken Bones
• Cuts or scrapes

Chronic Pain: Chronic pain is usually long-term pain that lasts for a while even if the injury is healed.

 

Examples of Chronic Pain:

 

• Headache
• Back Pain
• Cancer Pain

When to use ICE :

 

You're going to want to use Ice for ACUTE PAIN (usually an injury that has happened less than 48 hours ago or if swelling is present). Reducing the swelling with Ice is an effective way to get rid of the pain. Ice can also be used on chronic pain such as "overuse injuries" in this case applying ice to the injured are after activity to help control inflammation. You should never ice it before an activity.

 

 

 

When to use HEAT :

 

Heat should be used for CHRONIC PAIN to relax the muscles and tissues while stimulating a healthy blood flow. When using heat on an injury be very cautious about the level of heat you are using. You do not want to cause a first degree burn so do not leave heat pads on for a long time or while sleeping and use moderate heat.

Edited July 23, 2012 by CaptainPanic
url removed - please see forum rules, section 2.7

[CharonY]

It is actually slightly more complicated. Bottom line is (as correctly pointed out) cold restricts blood flow, numbs pain and reduces inflammation. Heat promotes flow. The question is therefore less whether the pain is acute or chronic, but rather what the mechanism behind it is. For most acute injuries pain numbing and reduction of inflammation is beneficial. However, even with chronic pain cold can be advantageous if the source is inflammation. However, heat can promote injury healing (by increasing blood flow)...

[Domnik]

It is actually slightly more complicated. Bottom line is (as correctly pointed out) cold restricts blood flow, numbs pain and reduces inflammation. Heat promotes flow. The question is therefore less whether the pain is acute or chronic, but rather what the mechanism behind it is. For most acute injuries pain numbing and reduction of inflammation is beneficial. However, even with chronic pain cold can be advantageous if the source is inflammation. However, heat can promote injury healing (by increasing blood flow)...

 

Yes the only thing is that when someone gets an injury you want to put a stop to or any inflammation because that can cause more serious problems in the future.

Although it is true what you are saying, heat just wouldn't reduce any inflammation and like I just said if you want to promote healing then you would need to lower inflammation.

[CharonY]

For injuries cold is obviously the preferred option, for the reasons highlighted above. I.e. inflammation should usually be treated with cold. However, chronic pain can also be caused by inflammation.

[Ahsan Iqbal]

what about bruises? For example consider the case of a soft part of body hit firmly by a round stone. What should be done quickly after being hit?

[Anawee]

There are some conditiones that can be treated with both, ice and heath. If you have cervical syndrome, for example, you can apply the ice on your neck and gently toward it to your sholdres, or you can massage that area with your hands, so the product will be heat.

My opinion is that you should use ice on almost everything, cause it will relax musculature, and increase range of motions, and avoid the heat as much you can.

 

The bruises should be treated with ice also, not directly on skin, but sprey it with something that have cool efect, so it can calm down the skin and decrease the pain.

[preeti22]

geneally Ice used for buring skin and heat is used on swelling when leg, hand twisted while doing work.