Hot and cold therapy can be used to treat different types of pain. Heat can be applied as a natural pain reliever, and so can extreme cold. Some chronic pains, such as arthritis, can be alleviated with both hot and cold treatments. For instance, since heat dilates your blood vessels and stimulates blood circulation, it reduces muscle spasms which sometimes accompany arthritic flareups.
And heat also temporarily changes your sensation of pain. Your brain responds to heat by lowering the awareness of pain in that area of the body. This can include both dry and wet heat, provided by heating pads or heat lamps, heated cloths and warm baths. Heat therapy for arthritis, as well as aches and pains in your joints, can be applied quickly and simply at home.
Another home therapy for pain management of all sorts involves using ice or cold packs. Rather than stimulating blood flow, ice and cold packs are exceptionally beneficial for treating joint pain which is caused by overuse or arthritis. Cold therapy treatments like fluoromethane work as local inflammation and swelling reducers, and are great for back pain sufferers.
When you employ ice, cold packs or other cold therapy treatments, you can limit muscle spasms while simultaneously increasing your threshold for pain. Simple cold packs can be made with ice from your freezer, and bags of frozen vegetables can serve to quickly reduce the swelling, inflammation, pain and discoloration that comes with a black eye and other injuries.
Some chronic joint pain sufferers and arthritic patients have expressed the best pain relief success when alternating between moist heat and ice. Experimenting with different hot and cold pain therapies can uncover just the right treatment that works for you.
It should be noted, if you suffer a physical injury that is characterized by swelling, inflammation and red discoloration, you will probably want to try some type of cold therapy for treating your pain. In this case, common to sprained ankle sufferers, RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) is the recipe to follow.
Before using any moist heat or ice therapy, you should make sure that the surface you are going to treat does not have any open cuts or sores, and your skin is clean and dry. Cold or heat should not be applied to areas with visible skin damage, and you always want to protect your sensitive skin with a towel or cloth before applying heat or cold as a pain treatment.
