The information in this article Hot and Cold therapy is not intended as a substitute for professional medical treatment or consultation. Always consult with your doctor or specialist in the event of a serious injury or whenever using cold or hot therapy for a medical condition.
Applying hot and cold therapy after injury.
A common recommendation for all first aid and acute injuries is known as the R.I.C.E. method of acute injury treatment. Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. When you are hurt or are in pain: R.I.C.E. is the key to the four basic methods of speeding injury recovery and reducing pain:
Rest: Resting after injury is vital to protect the injured are from further injury. The human body needs to rest in order to conserve the energy required to regenerate tissue.
Ice: Applying cold therapy as sonn as possible after soft tissue injuries aids in the reduction of swelling, bleeding, spasms and pain. Cold therapy should be applied for 48 to 72 hours with most doctors advising the application of cold therapy for twenty minutes followed by a break of twenty to sixty minutes before re application of cold therapy.
Compression: For a severe injury, immediate compression (pressure) is important to decrease bleeding and keep fluids from pooling in the area. Compression should be continued throughout the day and removed at night.
Elevation: The elevation of the injured area above the heart helps reduce swelling and internal bleeding..
The Polar non-toxic Soft-Ice® system of packs and Hot and Cold therapy compression wraps available on this site provide a comfortable, convenient and effective method of applying R.I.C.E. The polar soft ice packs stay soft and flexible right out of the freezer; this provides greater contact, heat transfer and comfort than ice or cheaper cold packs.
Expect injuries to begin to heal after 24 - 48 hours of applying cold therapy within the R.I.C.E. guidelines. If pain and swelling does not subside after 48 hours, consult your doctor or go to the emergency room at your hospital, depending upon the severity of your symptoms.
Once the healing process has begun, very light massage may improve the function of forming scar tissue, cut healing time and reduce the possibility of injury reoccurrence.
When should Soft-Ice®cold therapy be used?
Using cold therapy to treat injury is one of the oldest methods of pain relief. Cold therapy is an easy self care technique that is proven to be safe and effective for the reduction of swelling, pain relief and decreasing muscle spasms. Often people who use cold therapy do not require pain relief medication.
Cold therapy or Cyrotherapy is usually recommended as soon as possible after an injury has occurred and continued for 48 to 72 hrs. Most doctors recommend 20 minutes of cold therapy followed by 20 to 60 minutes off.
Some chronic injuries can also benefit from icing; but always ice after using the affected muscle or joint, never before.
How should cold therapy be administered?
Place Soft-Ice® packs on the injured area using a thin cloth or any of our compression wraps on this site to help protect from freezer burn or frostbite. Use Soft-Ice® for twenty minute intervals, followed by 20 to 60 min off. (See your doctor for exact recommendations) This will help to relieve pain, reduce swelling, and increase circulation. The skin temperature should always be allowed to return to normal between applications. Ice packs should not be left on the skin for too long, especially if the area has little fat (i.e. the toes). The cold can eventually stop blood flow altogether, causing frostbite.
How does cold therapy work?
After an injury, blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients to cells are damaged. The cells around the injury increase their metabolism in an effort to consume more oxygen. When all of the oxygen is used up, the cells die. Also, the damaged blood vessels cannot remove waste. Blood cells and fluid seep into spaces around the muscle, resulting in swelling and bruising. When cold therapy is applied, it lowers the temperature of the damaged tissue through heat exchange and constricts local blood vessels. This slows metabolism and the consumption of oxygen, therefore reducing the rate of cell damage and decreasing fluid build-up. Cold therapy can also numb nerve endings. This stops the transfer of impulses to the brain that register as pain. Cold or ice should never to applied directly to the skin. A barrier, such as a towel or cold therapy compression wrap should be placed between the cold pack and the skin's surface to prevent skin and nerve damage.
How long do Soft-Ice packs stay cold?
Ice therapy requires that as much heat is drawn from the effected area within the first twenty minutes as possible. Soft-Ice packs optimizes cold therapy for 20 minutes and are designed to stay soft and flexible.
What is the lifespan of Polar Soft Ice Cold Therapy Packs?
Soft-Ice is non-toxic and is designed to transfer heat with no chemical reactions. The cold pack can be reused over and over again and will last a long time.
Why not just use an ice bag or a bag of peas instead of a cold therapy wrap or soft ice pack?
That certainly is an option and these methods will work, however there are disadvantages. Both ice bags and frozen peas can be messy; they freeze hard and crunchy which does not allow close contact with the skin, maximum heat transfer and comfortable therapy. Ice bags and frozen peas are also less environmentally sound as reusable cold packs and they do not provide compression.
When you are in serious pain, you want a quick, clean solution that is reusable and will provide you consistent relief of your pain!
What precautions should you take when using soft ice cold therpay packs?
Prolonged, direct contact with cold can damage skin and nerves so always use a cloth or Polar compression wrap between the pack and the skin. Hot or cold therapy should not be used on people who have circulatory problems, who are unconscious, who cannot feel or respond to cold (e.g. in paralysis) or who are allergic to cold (some people develop skin reactions).
What should I do if I suffer a chronic pain?
Hot Therapy should be used for chronic conditions such as muscle discomfort, stiffness and many more. Applying hot therapy to an area effectively opens up the blood vessels allowing blood to flow freely to the affected area. This increases circulation, delivering an increased supply of oxygen and nutrients and removing waste from sore, fatigued and injured muscles. Hot therapy can be effective in treating back pain caused by muscle strains and spasms. Arthritic and thematic pain is often temporarily relieved with the use of heat therapy.
Cold therapy can also be effective with chronic pain. Many doctors recommend alternating these therapies with minimum 20 minute intervals: 20 minutes of heat, 20 minutes off, 20 minutes of cold, 20 minutes off.
When should I use heat therapy?
Heat therapy should be used for chronic conditions such as muscle discomfort, stiffness and many other chronic conditions. An example would be, for some people, nothing soothes a sore back like a hot pack. In a 2002 study published in the journal Spine, investigators at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey found that the continuous application of low level heat eased low back pain better than two common over-the-counter painkillers.
Heat therapy can also be used before exercise to increase the flexibility of joints and to increase blood flow. (You should not use heat therapy after exercise.) Because heat therapy increases circulation and increases the skin temperature, it should not be used when there is any swelling or inflammation.
How should you use heat?
The best way to apply moist heat or heat is to alternate 20 minutes of heat therapy with a 20 minute break. Repeat this process for 3-4 times daily until stiffness and soreness decreases. It is important when using heat therapeutically, to always have enough barrier between the skin surface and the heat pack to protect the skin.
What precautions should you take when using hot therapy?
Most therapists and doctors advise not to use heat right after an injury, as this will have the opposite effect of ice. Heat increases blood flow and relaxes muscles. Its good for easing tight muscles, but will only increase the pain and swelling of an injury by accelerating metabolism.
Hot or cold therapy should not be used on people who have circulatory problems, who are unconscious, who cannot feel or respond to cold (e.g. in paralysis) or who are allergic to cold (some people develop skin reactions).
Take care not to burn or damage the skin. Use extra caution if diabetic.
Place a soft towel or cloth between the heating pack and the skin.
Take care when using a heat pack if you are taking medicines that make you sleepy or if the area being treated is numb.
Limit the heat therapy to ten or fifteen minutes at a time. Try ten minutes every one to two hours.
Wait at least twenty-four hours before applying heat to skin that has been bruised, cut or used for an injection or subjected to any "invasive" procedure. NOTE: Heat can increase bleeding.
Important: If the area is sore from overuse or inflamed, use cold therapy and not heat therapy.
Migraine
Cold therapy has been proven to help reduce migraine headache pain. We recommend our Soft-Ice® wraps: HB for the head, NC as a neck collar.
Arthritis
Subacute and Chronic Arthritic Conditions: Superficial heat applications are valuable in relieving pain, stiffness, and secondary muscle spasm in conditions such as chronic arthritis. Cold therapy, in some people, helps relieve the pain.
From Arthritis Today, July-Aug 2000, “Drug-Free, All Natural Power Over Pain” pages 35-38 “Packin’ Heat - Just about everybody can use a quick fix for pain now and then. Experts told us that applications of warm, moist heat may do the trick.”
From Arthritis Today, July-Aug 2000, “Drug-Free, All Natural Power Over Pain” pages 35-38 “Give it the Cold Shoulder - If swollen, inflamed joints are making life miserable, then just chill out, experts say. Applying something cold to those angry spots can decrease pain and swelling by restricting the blood vessels and preventing fluids from leaking into the surrounding tissues.”
From The Johns Hopkins White Papers Arthritis (1995 P.9) “Warm compresses may relieve pain and ease stiffness by relaxing muscles. Heat treatments may also improve subsequent ability to exercise. In some people, however, application of cold packs or ‘crushed ice’ provides better relief of pain, especially when pain and inflammation follow activity. Warm compresses or ice should be applied for no longer than 20 minutes. Ice should be wrapped in a towel and removed when the area becomes numb.
From The Johns Hopkins White Papers Arthritis- Treatment of Bursitis (1995 P.47, 48) “A suspected case of bursitis can safely be treated at home. Apply ice packs to the affected area for 20 minutes every hour or two to help reduce pain and swelling. After 48 hours, use heat to stimulate blood flow and help ease the pain.
Hot and Cold Therapy Overview
Hot or cold therapy should not be used on people who have circulatory problems, who are unconscious, who cannot feel or respond to cold (e.g. in paralysis) or who are allergic to cold (some people develop skin reactions). Applying ice for too long can cause problems and delay the healing process. Always apply cold therapy in a safe and controlled manner. Never apply cold therapy if you have a sensation loss. Always consult with your physician in the event of a serious injury or whenever using cold or hot therapy for a medical condition.
Be Prepared with a Hot and Cold therapy wrap.
Always keep a Soft-Ice® pack or hot and cold therapy compression wrap on hand – preferably one in the freezer ready to go. You never know when you may have to ice down an injury! Flexible when frozen Soft-Ice cold & hot packs are ideal for this application.
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