Should you use heat or ice for your backache, sprain, or other injury?

Both heat and ice have been used for thousands of years to treat injury and pain, but how do you know which one to use? Read this brief article to gain a general understanding of the injury process in your body, and then follow a few simple rules and you can make the right decision each time.

TWO TYPES OF INJURIES

There are two basic types of injuries; acute and chronic. An acute injury is a sudden injury that has just occurred such as a sprained ankle. You will usually know when have sustained an acute injury. A chronic injury is a more “long term” injury. It can be a former acute injury that is healing, or a long term aching back. These two types of injuries are treated differently.

Acute Injury – Use Ice!

If you injured yourself during the last 48 hours, or if your injury shows any signs of redness or swelling (inflammation) use ice on your injury. Ice reduces swelling by constricting your blood vessels and slowing the leakage of fluids into your tissues from the injury. Reducing swelling helps the injury heal quicker and reduces the amount of pain you experience. Ice should also be used on chronic injuries that have been inflamed or “reinjured”. For example, let’s say you are recovering from a sprained ankle that occurred several weeks ago (therefore, it is now in the chronic stage). Then today you decide to hike to Humphreys Peak (highest point in Arizona) and your ankle is killing you when you finish. Well, the chances are that you reinjured your ankle to some degree and now require ice. Anytime your chronic pain flares up after exercise, ice is the appropriate treatment. As a rule, it never hurts to put ice on an injury or area of pain, as long as you follow the correct procedures (shown later in this article).
When to use Ice

• Immediately after an injury (sooner the better)
• The first 48 hours after an injury
• Anytime there is swelling or other signs of inflammation
• After exercise or exertion when you experience a flare up of a chronic pain

When Not to Use Ice

• Never use on a sore muscle before exercise. This will increase the risk of injury.
• Never use ice while sleeping.

Does and Don’ts of Applying Ice

• Don’t put ice directly against your skin unless you are performing an ice massage. An ice massage requires you to move the ice around on the affected area continuously (Ice Massage works great…Just use something to hold the ice so your hand does not freeze). Never leave an ice pack, etc. directly on your skin. Always place a towel or other material between the ice and your skin.
• Don’t use ice for more than 20 minutes at one time (less time on a smaller muscle or on small children). Longer usage can cause frostbite resulting in severe damage to your tissues.
• Do allow your body to warm up to room temperature naturally after applying ice (warm up takes 45 minutes to an hour).
• Do apply ice several times during the day as long as you let the area warm up in between uses.
• Don’t apply ice before exercise! This will increase your risk of injury.
• Do use a container (like a zip lock bag) that will contour to your body. A small amount of water can be placed in a zip lock bag with the ice to help this.

When using ice you may experience the following sensations, which are very natural (C.B.A.N.):
C – Cold!
B – Burning
A – Aching
N – Numbness – When you are numb you are done and can take the ice off! (Don’t exceed 20 minutes even if you don’t feel numb).

Chronic Injury – Use Heat (usually!)
Chronic pain or long term injuries usually respond best to heat. Stiff, sore muscles or joint pain is the ideal case to use heat. Heat dilates your blood vessels and increases circulation bringing blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the affected area. Basic massage therapy works the same way. One of the main goals when massaging sore muscles is to increase circulation to the muscle. Heat helps relax your muscles, increases flexibility, and reduces pain and soreness.
Once your formerly acute injury begins to heal and the inflammation goes down, you should start using heat (about 48 – 72 hours after the injury). For that sore back with no apparent acute injury that caused it, heat is also great.
Unlike ice, which can be used almost anytime safely, using heat at the wrong time will make your situation worse. Never use heat when swelling, redness, or other signs of inflammation are present. Heat will increase your inflammation, irritating your injury.
When to use Heat

• On sore muscles and joints that have not be recently injured
• On stiff and inflexible muscles (some causes of pain and inflexibility are related to chronic contractions or trigger points that can only be relieved by Medical Massage Therapy.
• Before exercise on muscles that chronically cause you problems (this is another way to warm up first).

When Not to Use Heat

• Never use when an injury has just occurred
• Never use when there are signs of inflammation (swelling, redness, heat).
• Never use on someone with sensory problems (they could be burned inadvertently)
• Never use heat while sleeping

Does and Don’ts of Applying Heat

• Do put the heat directly against your skin. Hot towels and heating pads work great.
• Do use heat for as long as you wish, as many times as you wish.
• Don’t burn yourself! The temperature of the heat can be as hot as you can take it without burning yourself. Be careful, especially with children and the elderly or those with reduced sensitivity to pain.
• Don’t apply heat after exercise. Use ice after and heat before exercise.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION – The above information is general advice only. If you are injured you should seek specific advice from a doctor or other medical professional.

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When you call beMobile Massage, a Sarasota mobile massage company, expect to be deeply relaxed with aromatherapy, calming music, and a heavenly and healing massage. With any of our exquisite services, we encourage you to communicate your special requests or preferences because this session is created specifically for YOU.

beMobile Massage Therapy in Sarasota, Florida - Call or Text 941.404.2307 to schedule your appointment!

More Benefits Of Massage - Changes Gene Expression and Reduces Inflammation

What’s the News: If you’ve ever been told been that a massage is good for “releasing toxins”—or to sound more scientific, “lactic acid”—from your muscles, then you’ve been told wrong. Turns out muscle cells do like a good massage, but it has nothing to do with lactic acid.
In the first study on the cellular effects of massage post-exercise, researchers found that massage bolsters chemical signals reducing inflammation and promoting repair of muscle cells.
How the Heck:

• Strenuous exercise actually tears your muscle fibers; that’s why an intense workout can leave you sore for days. (Don’t worry—it’s normal and it generally heals fine.) The researchers wanted to study how massage affects this muscle damage, so they made 11 healthy young men cycle to the point of exhaustion.
• Then, finally, relief! Sort of. One leg on each man was randomly chosen for a 10-minute massage. Unfortunately more pain was then in store for these volunteers. A tissue sample was taken from the quadriceps muscle (often known simply as “quad”) of each leg 10 minutes and 2.5 hours after the massage.
• Researchers looked at the level of different mRNA, or messenger RNA, transcripts in these tissue samples. mRNA carries the information for building proteins in the cell, so the level of a particular mRNA molecule can tell you how much of its corresponding protein is being made.
• Compared to unmassaged muscle cells, the tissue from massaged legs had different levels of two key proteins: less NFkB and more PGC-1alpha. Lowering NFkB levels reduces inflammation and increasing PGC-1alpha levels leads to the creation of more mitochondria that generate energy for cell growth, so both these massage-induced changes are good news for healing muscle cells.

What’s the Context:

• Massage is one of the most common forms of “alternative” medicine, and it’s been proven to reduce pain. Before this paper though, there was surprisingly little science on how massage actually works. And this study might finally kill the lactic acid myth that has persisted for so long.

Reference: Justin D. Crane et al. “Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage.” Science Translational Medicine, published 1 February 2012. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3002882

Muscles Used In The Golf Swing- Massage Therapy for Golfers

For a golfer, the muscles used in the golf swing should be both strong and flexible to produce the desired results.

Key Golf Muscles 

• Core muscles for a stronger turn and stored torque.
• Hamstrings for maintenance of golf posture and low-back injury prevention.
• Quadriceps to help maintain knee flex throughout the swing.
• Upper back muscles to help keep an erect upper spine for ease of rotation.
• Shoulder muscles to allow for consistent top-of-the-backswing position and better control of the club throughout the swing.
• Forearms for a strong impact position with no break down in the wrists.

Core Golf Muscles

The core golf swing muscles are the engine to your golf swing. Like in all athletic movements, your core drives the power. It's the same in baseball, in throwing a discus or shot put, hitting a slapshot in hockey, or any other dynamic power movement.
If your core is weak and inflexible, you will not be able to generate any clubhead speed, resulting in a massive loss of distance. By training your core in both strength and flexibility, from a rotational standpoint, you will see dramatic improvements in your power and distance.

Lower Body Golf Muscles

These muscles play a critical role in stability and generating power. The hamstrings are the most important muscles to help maintain golf posture. These muscles are the most restricted on the older golfer. A simple test is how far can you bend over and attempt to touch your toes?
Developing both strength and flexibility in your hamstrings will not only result in a more consistent golf posture throughout your golf swing, but will greatly reduce the strain on your lower back, helping prevent the very common, "golfers low back" injury.
Your quadriceps help maintain knee flex throughout your golf swing. The key to golf is getting in a dynamic golf posture position (which involves knee flex) and keeping this position throughout the golf swing.
The ONLY way to do this is to strength training and stretch this key areas. Hitting more balls will not be the answer.

Upper Back Golf Muscles

The main contributor for the lack of ability to make a full backswing is the upper back area. Many older golfers have that big hump when in their golf posture that inhibits them to rotate fully in the backswing.
This is a "physical" issue, not mechanical. The ONLY way to improve this is stretching and strengthening the spinal muscles in the upper back. The stronger those muscles are, the better able you'll be to maintain an erect upper back throughout the golf swing.

Shoulder Golf Muscles

The shoulder muscles have many roles in the golf swing, and they are an area that gets over-stressed and injured (rotator cuff). Throughout the golf swing, the shoulder joint rotates open and closed, while the golf club is moving at up to 100 mph.
If the shoulder muscles are weak, you will have no control over your club throughout the swing. If they are inflexible, you will not be able to get to an optimal "top-of-the-backsing" position consistently. Being able to get the club in the right positions is critical to golf swing consistency.

Forearm (Wrist) Golf Muscles

The golf muscles of the forearm (wrist) play a critical role at impact. If the lead wrist is weak, it will break down at impact, robbing you of distance and solid ball contact. One swing fault that will happen is "flipping" the club which increases loft and loses distance.
If your forearm muscles (wrist) are inflexible, you will not be able to get a full wrist cock, which results in less release of the club at impact. Again, the result is a massive loss of distance with all clubs.


Learn about Sacral Therapy and Massage Therapy for Golfers

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Craniosacral Therapy

What is CranioSacral Therapy?

Craniosacral therapy, (CST) is a gently, hands on method of evaluating and enhancing the functioning of a physiological body system called the craniosacral system-comprised of the membranes and cerebronspinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. 

Using a soft touch generally no greater than 5 grams, or about the weight of a nickel, practitioners release restrictions in the craniosacral system to improve the functioning of the central nervous system.

By complementing the body’s natural healing processes, CST is increasingly used as a preventive health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease, and is effective for a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction.

 

The Healing Power of Massage