Muscles respond very well to heat and ice therapy. Why is this?
Applications of heat fill the tissues with blood and increase circulation. Short applications of ice also increase circulation. This is all good!
Longer applications of cold by itself reduce the flow of blood to the area so keep application of cold in an area to less than one minute. (Water Therapy, Leon Chaitow MD)
What is contrast therapy?
Alternating heat/hot and cold/ice applications helps increase circulation, increases oxygen supply to the soft tissues and improves drainage to reduce inflammation (swelling.) Dr. Chaitow suggests finishing [More…] with cold in most instances.
Heat increases blood flow to tight muscles and cold reduces inflammation. But sometimes you don’t have to decide. Sometimes you can use both!
Here’s how to use contrast therapy:
You can alternate hot packs and cold packs. You might use ice massage (actual massage with a ice cube) and alternate it with hot towels or hot packs. Or you might use two dishpans with hot water in one (98-104 degrees F maximum–hot enough to tolerate comfortably, not to burn) and very cold water (55-65 degrees F) in the other. You can tell if the cold is cold enough if ice doesn’t melt as it floats.
You can place your hands, elbows, arms or feet in the contrast baths. Soak for two or three minutes in each bath. Alternate from pan to pan several times. You can do both arms or feet at the same time in the same or different pans.
Pay attention to your body. You may get some unusual sensations because your body isn’t used to processing the two different sensory inputs at the same time.
Lots of times people think of heat as being more soothing and therapeutic. If you apply heat and feel slightly worse, that means that ice/cold will benefit you more. Even though ice can be very uncomfortable, it is often the treatment of choice.
Contrast therapy (also called contrast hydrotherapy), using both ice and heat, can help your muscles feel better. Muscle tissue can relax and soften, it becomes easier to stretch, and pain is lessened.
You can still use ice or heat by themselves but now you have another choice: contrast therapy for muscle pain relief.
It appears you are recommending contrast therapy for chronic aches and pains and not acute injury. Cold seems to be better for acute injury to reduce swelling and thus promote more rapid healing. With any cold application, there is a warm-up period when the skin is bright pink. Cold for acute injury has to be applied until that warm up period stops.
I wonder if you recommend applying heat or cold through a thin cloth if the hot or cold liquid is in a plastic container. Many of them already come with a cover and I always recommend using it.
Hi Bruce, I appreciate your input. “Chronic aches and pains” means you have them all the time and have had them for a while. “Acute injury or pain” means you just got it within the past 2-3 days.
There are many ways to apply heat or cold so the application depends on what you are using. You can use water itself as described in the article. You can use ice directly–but constantly moving it so it is not always on the same spot–on the skin. That is called “ice massage.”
In the end, you want the cold or heat to be cold enough or warm enough to make a difference and to be therapeutic. You do NOT want to injure your skin or circulation in the area with too much heat or cold. I have seen backs with permanent color changes–quite like scarring–from too much application of too much heat.
Or you can use cold or hot gel packs or rice packs that can go into the microwave or freezer. I always recommend using the cover or a thin towel, too, between your skin and a hot or cold container. I will admit that sometimes I do not feel sufficient cold with the cover that came with one of my ice packs so I use a thinner lightweight woven towel instead.
Kathryn