When To Use Ice and Heat

You can reduce pain and swelling simply with the right treatment. Let’s go over when to use ice and heat.

When Should I Use Ice?

Ice or cold will not help you heal, but it will reduce inflammation and pain. Use ice immediately after your injury, or any re-injury to the area that causes a flare-up of pain and swelling. Use ice for at least the first 48 hours.  You will need to use ice for a longer period than the first 48 hours if your inflammation is more severe, especially in cases of tendonitis.

You can use ice and compression any time to help with the pain and swelling. For sprains, strains, and tears, ice will not help you heal. It won't harm you though, so use it for the pain. For repetitive strain injuries like tendonitis (or almost any diagnosis ending in 'itis'), cold can help you recover from your condition.

It's very important to recognize that pain and swelling are not the problem, but only the sign of the problem. When your body experiences an acute injury, which is caused by a traumatic and sudden injury, it swells instantly and is very painful.  Inflammation is part of our body's natural process to heal itself and to stop the internal bleeding. Pain is there to stop you from doing things that can make the injury worse. Pain is there to be your guide. The only reason we feel pain is so that we react to help protect our injury.

When Should I Use Heat?

Use heat to relax the muscles. Heat can be very effective for relaxing muscles. Even if the muscles in the area of injury are not hurt themselves, tense muscles can put strain on other tissue in the area, making things worse, so relaxing those muscles can help take the strain off your injury. After a serious injury, do not use heat in the first 48 hours - use ice. If you mildly re-injure the area after it has started to heal, do not use heat until the new re-injury has stabilized. Wait 4 to 48 hours depending on the severity of the re-injury. If you have a lot of swelling and pain, don't use heat. 

How to Use Heat Effectively

• You should only apply heat once the pain and swelling has ceased
• Do not apply heat after an activity or if you have an acute injury
• Be careful when applying heat to chronic injuries that are caused by overuse
• You can use heat on a chronic injury that is not swollen or in pain.

Use heat only when your pain and swelling is under control. Always start at the lowest level and only increase the heat if there is no additional pain. When you are at rest and your injury is protected, you can use heat to loosen the muscles around the area and help the tissue relax. Tight muscles can be holding open small tears in your tissue, preventing them from healing. Use heat only for short durations of 30 minutes or less so you don't overheat the tissue. Give the area of your injury a chance to return to normal temperature before applying heat again.  Don't use ice to bring the tissue temperature back down. Let the body return to temperature naturally. Heat can help some injuries to heal.