Ice or Heat Therapy: Which Do I Use?

Learn when to use heat or ice the next time you experience any type of swelling, pain or injury

Perhaps you woke up one morning, and your neck was stiff, or you overdid it at the gym, and your knee was swollen. Should you use ice or heat to help?

If you decide to treat a condition like this at home before calling a doctor, you might be confused about which method to use.

Understanding when to use heat or ice is crucial to healing because they have opposite reactions in the body.

So which one should you use?

Looking to relax muscles? Say YES to Heat!
Trying to reduce swelling and inflammation? Say NO to Heat!
Looking to relieve swelling and inflammation? Say YES to Ice!
Have muscle spasms? Say NO to Ice!

Heat.

Heat treatment relieves stiffness, chronic aches, facilitates relaxation, and stimulates circulation.

Heat treatments should be used for:

Chronic injuries or injuries that have no inflammation or swelling
Tight or spasming muscles or muscles containing trigger points
Chronic injury, sprain or strain
Arthritis pain
Sore, stiff, nagging muscle or joint pain

How to Apply Heat:

Place a washcloth under hot tap water or heat it up slightly in the microwave, and then apply it directly to the injured area
Use heating pads, paraffin wax treatments, heat wraps or whirlpools
Never leave heating pads on for more than 20 minutes at a time or while sleeping
When an injury is older than 48 hours, heat can be applied in the form of heat pads, deep heat cream, hot stones, hot water bottles or heat lamps

Heat Tips:

Your goal should be to warm, but not overheat the area. Treat with heat for no longer than 20 minutes and make sure to wait 1 hour between heat treatments.

Ice.

Cold therapy is the treatment of choice for acute injuries that have occurred within the last 72 hours.

Cold therapy should be used for:

Inflammation/swelling relief
Numbing pain
Circulation stimulation in areas of chronic discomfort
New injuries
Newly aggravated muscles or tendon strains
Ligament strains
Soft tissue or bone bruises

How to Apply Ice:

The best way to ice an injury is with a high-quality ice pack that conforms to the area that is being iced.
The effect of the ice pack is thought to be improved if it is pressed gently onto the injured area.
Another method of icing is ice massage. Freeze a paper or Styrofoam cup full of water, and then tear off the top rim to expose the ice. Move the ice continuously over the injury for 15 minutes.

Ice Tips:

Ice is typically used within the first 48 hours after an injury such as joint sprains or muscle strains. You can apply ice several times a day for 20 minutes at a time. Taking at least a 20-minute break in between.

Do not leave the ice on for more than 20 minutes, or you can do more harm than good.