Both heat and cold therapy can be beneficial and can provide relief of lower back pain. If you are yet to become acquainted with heat or ice, be sure to incorporate these therapies into your daily routine appropriately. As medicinal lower back pain results, read on to find out whether you should be using heat or ice.
Lower Back Pain? Here’s When to Ice it Away
In most instances, you are encouraged to use ice on your back for the first 24 to 72 hours after an injury. Cold therapy helps reduce swelling and inflammation. This, in turn, lessens your pain. Cold therapy may also help prevent tissue damage.
Place a cloth between your skin and the source of cold to prevent ice burn. You can also use an Elastogel Hot/Cold All Purpose Pack. Cold therapy must be applied to your skin for up to 20 minutes, but it may be reapplied up to ten times in a 24-hour period.
When Should you use heat to Relieve Pain?
After the initial pain and swelling have resolved, switch to heat. Heat stimulates blood flow to the affected area and facilitates healing. It may also minimize stiffness and prevent pain signals from heading to your brain.
When applying heat, you may determine between dry heat or moist heat. Dry heat is generally less difficult to apply, but it may dry out your skin. Moist heat penetrates deeper and can more readily relieve your pain. If you have open wounds, dermatitis, or diabetes, avoid heat therapy as a precaution.
Which is better for chronic pain relief: heat or cold?
The question of whether to use hot or cold isn’t as clear-cut when you’re chronically dealing with lower back pain. For most people, restoring their comfort involves finding a balance between using both heat and cold. If you’re performing physical exercises to strengthen your back, you may find that applying heat first facilitates warm-up your muscles and makes it possible to make it through your workout with ease. Cold works to reduce inflammation and alleviate pain after exercising.
Elastogel offers different types of Hot and Cold packs. We offer The Elastogels products that are used to offer hot or cold therapy such as Hot/Cold Shoulder Sleeve, Hot/Cold Lumbar Wrap, and many more! You can check our website or call our customer service hotline at 770-441-9808 for assistance.
