'Do I use heat or ice?' This is one of the most common questions we are asked in the clinic when discussing management plans for our clients. But is one really better than the other? Does it depend on what type of injury you have? All these questions will be answered in this blog! What are the benefits of ice?Icing can be helpful in reducing:
Ice is best used for:
It is important to be aware of scenarios where ice can cause more harm than good. These include:
What are the benefits of heat?Heat can be helpful in:
Heat is best used for:
Much like ice there are situations where heat should be avoided:
In summary both heat and ice can be beneficial in relieving symptoms as long as they are used in the correct situation. The most important thing to be aware of is that they usually will only provide short term relief and will not heal the injury itself. Physiotherapy is an extremely important part of managing an injury as it not only can accelerate the recovery process, but provide yourself with exercises to continue to perform which will promote long term management and reduce the chance of re-injury. If you are currently suffering from an injury, please give us a call on (02) 9620 4948 and we will book you in for an assessment with one of our Physiotherapists. References
French, S. D., Cameron, M., Walker, B. F., Reggars, J. W., & Esterman, A. J. (2006). Superficial heat or cold for low back pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2011(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd004750.pub2 Hsu, J. R., Mir, H., Wally, M. K., & Seymour, R. B. (2019). Clinical practice guidelines for pain management in acute musculoskeletal injury. Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma, 33(5). https://doi.org/10.1097/bot.0000000000001430 Malanga, G. A., Yan, N., & Stark, J. (2014). Mechanisms and efficacy of heat and cold therapies for Musculoskeletal injury. Postgraduate Medicine, 127(1), 57–65. Link to full paper Qaseem, A., Wilt, T. J., McLean, R. M., & Forciea, M. A. (2017). Noninvasive treatments for acute, subacute, and chronic low back pain: A clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians. Annals of Internal Medicine, 166(7), 514. https://doi.org/10.7326/m16-2367 Comments are closed.
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