There are many times when one has some pain that is a result of joint or muscle damage. There are many ways through which such pain can be relieved. By the use of cold and heat therapy, one is able to reduce the discomfort that comes from these pains. Heat therapy, also known as thermotherapy, can involve using a warm bath to relieve the pain, the use of hot water bottles or even the use of pads that are microwave heated. You can learn more at Neuropathycure.org website. Are there advantages and disadvantages of using heat or ice for pain relief?
Well, here are 3 pros and cons of using ice or heat for nerve pain:
3 pros of using ice or heat for nerve pain
Heat can be used to relieve pain in a number of ways. A hot bath is an easy and comfortable way of relieving some kinds of pain. When it comes to headaches, heat can be applied to the neck so as to reduce spasms that cause headaches.
Ice is good for relieving back pains and recent injuries. This is more so for injuries where heat is generated. For the back injury, ice is good especially due to the fact that there are inflammations most of the time. You see, back pains are mostly caused by muscle tension.
When an injury such as an ankle sprain has occurred, ice packs can be used to relieve the pain and discomfort. However, this should be done for the first 48 hours as these decreases any swelling that can occur. In athletes, overuse injuries are best treated by the use of cold ice treatments.
3 cons of using ice or heat for nerve pain:
One has to be careful not to use cold treatment in a case where the injured part is numb. You may also not use cold ice treatment if the injury is an open wound or blistered. In the case of cramping, cold treatment cannot be used as it could easily aggravate the situation. It is also not to be used in the case where the injured person suffers some kind of vascular disease as cold treatment would affect blood flow. There are people who are hypersensitive to cold. These people cannot have cold ice used to treat their nerve pain.
Heat is not suitable for any injury that is already hot. As such, infections, fresh injuries and burns will not be treated through heat. A person with an open wound will not get better with heat treatment. If anything, heat will make the situation worse. If the injured area is numb, or the person has dermatitis, heat treatment should never be applied. There are people who are insensitive to heat either because of peripheral neuropathy or something similar to that condition. These people cannot be helped through heat treatment.
It would be bad to use ice treatment just before an activity. It cannot also be applied directly on the skin as doing this would damage body tissues and even lead to frostbite. In this case, ice may not really be of benefit to people who need urgent treatment before an activity such as athletes.
