Is Ice or Heat Better for Temporary Pain Relief from an Injury?

Oct 11

If you’ve ever had a pulled muscle, you know that they can be a pain in the neck, literally in some cases! Sometimes the instinct is to apply heat and try to loosen things up. But most of the time, you should do the opposite and use cold to help pain and swelling caused by a pulled muscle.

When do you know whether to use heat or ice for an injury? We’ve got a little guidance for when you’re in this situation. This is not medical advice and we want to stress that it’s always best to talk to your primary care provider when dealing with an injury. You may need treatment that is not mentioned here. A medical professional can give you advice on ice and heat, wrapping, bandaging, how to keep the area clean, and whether or not physical therapy is necessary.

Why Heat Can Be Bad

When you’re dealing with a pulled muscle or a sprained ankle, heat may feel good in the short term. But it can trigger even more inflammation, which will cause more pain and swelling later.

Why? When you get hurt, inflammation is part of the healing process. An injury makes the immune system jump into action to bring blood and inflammatory cells to the area to trap germs and toxins. This causes pain, swelling, and other things. We have a full article on inflammation and ways that nutrition can help.

Swelling is caused by bleeding in the tissues and since heat brings blood to the area, that makes it worse. If you’ve ever been to a sporting event where an athlete is injured, one of the first things they do is put ice on it. There’s a reason for that.

Why Ice Might Be a Better Option

Ice is not going to heal you. It slows down inflammation and interrupts the pain cycle. Blood and inflammatory cells will still come to the area, but the ice will constrict the blood vessels so the swelling won’t be as severe.

Ice can also potentially help you to help your doctor diagnose the source of your injury. For example if you ice your sore wrist, but that sore wrist is actually caused by a tight muscle aggravating a nerve in your neck, you’ll quickly find out that the ice on the wrist doesn’t seem to help. Moving the ice from your wrist to your arm to your neck will eventually numb the area causing the nerve pain. That’ll help you figure out where the source of the pain is so your doctor can help.

Some Ways to Ice Safely

It’s best to ice as soon as possible after you get hurt. If you don’t have ice prepared or something to use as an ice pack, a bag of frozen vegetables will do in a pinch. Never put ice directly on broken skin. After speaking to a medical professional, they may recommend an ice bath for pulled muscles or a sprained ankle. Please follow their directions on how to do that.

There is a lot of advice about how to apply ice to an injury and for how long. One way that may work well is to ice for up to 10 minutes, but during that time, don’t keep the ice in the same spot for more than 45-90 seconds at a time. This method helps to prevent damage to your skin. The safest way to do this is to hold the ice in your hand, apply gentle pressure, and apply it in circles to the affected area. Pull the ice away for 45-90 seconds and then repeat until the 10 minutes is up. If things feel better after just one or two cycles, it’s okay to not do the full 10 minutes.

Water House Wellness Owner, Kelly, learned a little trick to apply ice while she was in school, “In massage school we took those little ice cooler cups and filled them with water. Once they became ice, we would rip off the top. Now you have an ice cube you can hold in your hand. We were icing our forearms all the time while we were learning to use them to apply pressure and that definitely helped me. Not because my forearms were injured but because muscle soreness is a neurological loop where your brain is screaming "pain! pain! pain!" Ice interrupts that so that you can get distracted and add other things to focus on.”

Icing an injury can sometimes be uncomfortable because extreme cold is a shock to the body. There are ways to try and stay a little warmer when applying ice to the body. The easiest way to do this is to bundle up in warm clothes or a blanket. You can also use a heating pad near the injury while you ice. Just be sure not to get too close.

Another trick is to ice while taking a hot shower. Freeze some water in a paper cup, similar to the method Kelly mentioned. You can insert a tongue depressor or popsicle stick if you have one on hand to create a handle (or use one of those popsicle making kits). While showering, apply the ice to the injured area, moving it around for 45-90 seconds, then taking it off of the skin. This shower method keeps your whole body nice and warm while you’re working on the injury with ice.

If you’re ever in doubt about the right method to ice an injury, the best thing to do is to reach out to your medical provider or a physical therapist.

There are Times When Heat is Good

Heat treatment is not something you use after an injury, but you can use it after the healing process is past its peak. This is usually about 3 days, or 72 hours. When the swelling goes away, it’s usually safe to use heat, though a doctor can advise. Think about how athletes warm up their muscles to increase blood flow. This is the same concept- you’re warming things up to help with movement.

There are specific times when heat should be used instead of ice. This includes:

Menstrual cramps
Digestive cramps
Arthritis pain

A heating pad is an inexpensive way to bring heat to a specific area of the body. Be sure to use a barrier between it and the skin. And never apply the pad to broken skin. You can put together a makeshift heating pad by putting rice into a cloth bag (or sew one up) and warming it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This eliminates eclectic cords and the rice is flexible and can reach joints that a stiff heating pad can’t.

Heat doesn’t have to mean using a heating pad. In fact, full body heat may actually be better. You can take a hot shower or put on clothes directly out of the dryer. Another option is to spend some time in an infrared sauna. Sauna use helps to pull toxins from the body which is another benefit following an injury once the swelling has gone down. Water House Wellness has an infrared sauna and you are welcome to book an appointment to use it.

Movement Can Help Some Injuries

If your injury doesn’t have to be immobilized, movement may be recommended during the healing process. This is especially true when it comes to pulled muscles.

Kelly says that you should always check with your doctor to make sure that movement could be beneficial. Once you get the all-clear, start moving!

She says, “When folks are injured and inclined to rest, I do recommend they make sure to incorporate very gentle movements that go through the range of motion at their joints. This shows the body that it is safe. I feel it is important that you move and don't just hop into bed because stopping all activity tells the muscles that basically that you don't need them anymore. It’s like the old adage "use it or lose it" "

One way to gently start moving the body is with yin yoga. This is a style of yoga that involves slow movement and holding poses for a longer period of time. It has its roots in Chinese medicine.

Kelly says, “I suggest they look up gentle yin yoga posts or even yin yoga short classes online that they can follow along but really listen to their body and get very slowly in and out of positions.”

We recommend consulting with your doctor to make sure that movement is safe for your injury.

Does Massage Help Injuries and Inflammation?

Sometimes having someone else get your body moving can be helpful. The National Institute of Health reports that massage can be good for injury recovery. There is some evidence that massage can help speed up the healing process, which is always a benefit for anyone looking to get back to their regular activities.

The great thing about massage is that it can be tailored for each person. If you have a muscle strain, a licensed massage therapist can focus on that area. It helps to increase blood flow and circulation to help with healing. Of course this should only be done after the pain and swelling has gone down and with a doctor’s approval.

Massage can also, surprisingly, help to prevent future injuries. It helps your muscles to be more relaxed and pliable, resulting in increased flexibility and range of motion. That’s because it helps with circulation that keeps our muscles and tissues healthy. It also promotes the flow of lymph and helps to deliver nutrients and oxygen to the muscles. It also boosts your immune system by stimulating the production of white blood cells. This is really important for us as we age, whether you’re an athlete or not.

Water House Wellness would be honored to start you on your journey to injury recovery, prevention, and overall better health. We have a staff of experienced Licensed Massage Therapists who specialize in a wide range of therapies for your specific needs. We also have a monthly membership so that you have the option to book often at a reduced rate.

Get started by booking your massage online. You can also call us to talk about which LMT would be the best fit for you, based on your preferences and needs. Our phone number is (339) 707-0476. You can also email us at waterhousewellnessfrontdesk@gmail.com for other specific questions.