Battle of the Medicine Cabinet Treatments: Ice Vs. Heat
September 19, 2013
A common question I get in my practice is whether it is better to use ice or heat when treating an injury. The simple answer is that both ice and heat can be beneficial in treating an injury at different times. But determining which one to use can prove quite confusing. Following are my top-line guidelines:
- Ice is generally used after an initial injury to help prevent inflammation, swelling and pain. It can also be used to treat a “flare up” of an older injury following physical activity. Ice cools the injured muscle and tissue by limiting blood flow and provides a direct numbing effect to sensitive nerves.
- Heat – in the form of a heating pad, warm towel, or hot shower or bath – is best used to treat older injuries that have begun to heal. Since heat improves blood flow to an area, it is used to “soften up” sore, stiff muscles or joints and “warm up” the injured area prior to exercise or activity.
As a general rule-of-thumb, consider applying heat before exercise to encourage blood flow, thereby allowing the injured area to move more freely. Following exercise, use ice to treat any swelling or irritation the activity may have caused.
Hey excellent website! Does running a blog such as this take a massive amount work? I’ve absolutely no knowledge of programming but I had been hoping to start my own blog soon. Anyway, if you have any recommendations or tips for new blog owners please share. I understand this is off subject but I just had to ask. Cheers!
At this time it appears like Drupal is the preferred blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
Greetings from Colorado! I’m bored at work so I decided to browse your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the information you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, good site!
I’m not sure exactly why but this weblog is loading incredibly slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to design my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from. thank you
Today, I went to the beach with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!
My developer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on a number of websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi there! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this post to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!
Heya! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no back up. Do you have any methods to protect against hackers?
Fantastic blog! Do you have any helpful hints for aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many options out there that I’m completely confused .. Any ideas? Thanks a lot!
Right now it sounds like Drupal is the best blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get three emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Cheers!
Today, while I was at work, my cousin stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive a thirty foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
First off I would like to say great blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you don’t mind. I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your mind prior to writing. I have had trouble clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out. I truly do take pleasure in writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are lost just trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations or hints? Thanks!
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You obviously know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your weblog when you could be giving us something informative to read?
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this website. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s hard to get that “perfect balance” between superb usability and appearance. I must say that you’ve done a fantastic job with this. Additionally, the blog loads extremely fast for me on Safari. Excellent Blog!
I am commenting to let you know what a notable encounter my cousin’s princess gained visiting your blog. She figured out a good number of details, which included what it’s like to have an amazing giving character to let the mediocre ones with ease comprehend specific grueling topics. You really surpassed visitors’ desires. Thank you for distributing such good, dependable, explanatory and in addition unique guidance on the topic to Tanya.
I have recently started a blog, the information you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.
Wow! Thank you! I always needed to write on my site something like that. Can I take a portion of your post to my site?