Heat and cold therapy means warming or cooling the painful spot, using packs or an infrared heat table, and at the Padda Institute in St. Louis it is usually how a physiotherapy visit begins. Cold settles a flare-up or fresh swelling; heat loosens stiff muscles so the rest of the visit works better.
This is one station in our physician-directed physiotherapy program. It runs only on your physician’s written order, at the strength your physician sets.
It is the simplest station in the program: warmth or cold, from packs or an infrared table, laid over the area that hurts. Your physician chooses heat or cold, and it is normally the first thing you do at a visit.
Cold slows swelling and dulls pain, so it is the choice for a flare-up or a new strain. Heat opens up blood flow and relaxes tight muscle, which makes the stretching and strengthening that come next easier and more useful. For many patients with long-standing spine pain, heat is the warm-up before the real work.
Heat should feel pleasantly warm and never hot. Cold feels cool at first and then a little numb. A towel always separates the pack from your skin, and your technician looks at your skin after five minutes.
Each visit opens with spoken safety questions. If something has changed since last time, such as a new medicine, a new symptom or a procedure this week, the physician decides before anything starts. Say stop at any moment and it stops.
Ten to fifteen minutes.
Show us you have it: Tell us whether you use heat or cold at home, how many minutes, and what you put between the pack and your skin. If any part is unclear, ask, and we will walk through it again at your next visit.
Related reading: why a pain clinic recommends the sauna, whole body infrared therapy.
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