If not treated correctly, injuries to the foot and ankle can progress and become quite debilitating. More than 3-5% of all emergency visits in the hospital setting are attributed to acute ankle sprains(1). This corresponds to roughly 5,000 to 6,000 Emergency Room visits due to ankle sprains per day in the US! Fortunately, most cases of ankle and foot injuries are mild to moderate and do not require heroic measures or extensive medical management. Warm or/ and cold therapy is often the best and the only solution needed to manage the discomfort along with rest and relaxation. But is it really a good idea to use cold or heat therapy to manage pain and discomfort instead of over-the-counter analgesics? when to use heat and what are some situations when you should avoid cold therapy? The primary aim of using hot and/ or cold therapy is to alleviate pain symptoms by modulating the local tissue circulation and release of your body’s natural pain-mediators. On the other hand, most pain relieving medications exert their action by temporarily altering the biochemical environment of the tissues.
Hot and cold therapies have several other benefits that you don’t get when using pain relieving medications such as: Cold therapies work best in case of acute traumas that are associated with bruises or acute swelling. Most cases of acute trauma are associated with extreme pain that is almost always instantaneous. If you suffer from twisted ankle or soft tissue sprain or if you drop something heavy on your ankle or foot, cold therapy can work wonders! Cold therapy exerts its action by constricting the blood vessels to minimize the bleeding and internal blood loss. Additionally, exposure to colder temperatures also help in numbing the sensory fibers to reduce the sensation of pain and discomfort. Lastly, exposure to cold temperature via ice-packs or cold compresses also helps decrease the irritation and swelling which then aids normal mobility and joint motion. Cold therapy can be applied a number of ways, such as an ice wrap, ice-cold water for compresses, ice bags, clay bags, or even bag filled with chilled frozen peas.
Hot or warm therapy works best in the setting of chronic injuries with some degree of residual pain, stiffness and tension. Ideally, injuries that are not associated with bruising are best managed by hot therapy and not cold therapy. Heat therapy exert its action by: Heat therapy should be used for chronic aches, tissue or musculoskeletal injuries and different forms of arthritis. Heat therapy prior to highly vigorous and physically demanding activities can reduce the risk of pain and soft tissue swelling. It can be applied via heat pads or hot water bottles or just plain soaking your foot in hot water for 10 to 20 minutes. You can also use towel dipped in hot water, hot shower or even a hot tub to achieve soothing relief from pain and aches. If your pain is severe or persists or worsens, you should always seek medical attention. Remember, if in doubt, seek medical attention. 9 Tips for Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis How Do Kids Develop Arthritis? 7 Myths and Facts About NSAIDs for RA
5 Signs to Change Your RA Treatment Sign Up for Our Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis NewsletterThanks for signing up!Sign up for more FREE Everyday Health newsletters.SubmitWe respect your privacy.Doctors and physical therapists often recommend hot and cold therapy to soothe the aching or stiff joints of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and increase mobility. Together, these methods to temporarily relieve RA pain are referred to as "thermotherapy."While there is little evidence that thermotherapy is medically beneficial, a review published in 2011 by the Cochrane Collaboration of hot and cold treatment for rheumatoid arthritis concluded that superficial moist heat and cryotherapy (cold packs or baths) can be used as palliative (or supportive) therapy. Paraffin wax baths combined with exercises can also provide beneficial short-term effects for arthritic hands.Hot and cold treatments won't prevent rheumatoid arthritis flares, but they can lessen the pain and inflammation. To ease these symptoms, some doctors recommend warming the joints before exercising and using cold on them afterward.
Hot Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis For someone with an inflammatory disease like RA, applying heat may seem counterintuitive. But since heat works to reduce muscle tension and stimulate blood circulation, many patients find that applying something warm — even if it just means warming your clothes in the dryer before dressing, or lying with a heated blanket prior to getting up in the morning — simply feels good on the joints."Gentle heat in the morning can improve your range of motion," explains Katie Palmer, a physical therapist in Newtown, Pennsylvania. "It can relieve some of the joint pain and the stiffness and prepare your body for exercise or to get up and get moving and out the door."One version of hot therapy is the paraffin, or wax, bath, similar to what's used in nail salons to soften the skin and nails. "The paraffin is heated to a prescribed temperature and then you dip in your hands, wrists, and fingers, and it forms a coating," Palmer explains. "Then you wrap your paraffin-covered hands and wrists in a little towel, and it gives you a nice moist, deep heat that can help eliminate some of the pain and stiffness of RA."
Palmer recommends paraffin therapy for the hands when they're stiff — like first thing in the morning — but not when the joints are inflamed. "When the joints are acutely inflamed, when things are a little bit out of control, it's more useful to use a cool temperature to decrease the inflammation and the swelling," she says.Palmer also offers up a possible alternative. "Applying warm compresses works in a similar way to a paraffin bath," she says. "Research has shown warm compresses provide pain relief for patients with RA and help to increase hand and finger range of motion when combined with exercises. It also helps to decrease overall stiffness.”Cold Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis If your joints are inflamed, it makes sense that something cold could ease the inflammation and thus the pain. The main benefits of cold therapy are reducing inflammation, swelling, and soreness, as well as temporarily relieving joint pain caused by an arthritis flare.Like heat therapy, cold therapy comes in several forms.
Cold packs that you place directly on an aching joint include everything from common items — bags of frozen peas or gel packs found at the drugstore — to complete systems of coolers, cooling pads, and devices shaped to certain parts of the body, like the knees and back.Another simple method of cooling the joints is a cool-water soak in a tub — just don't let the water get so cold that you become chilled. There also are widely available over-the-counter cold sprays and ointments, such as Biofreeze and CryoDerm, that relieve inflammation by numbing the nerves.One word of caution: If you have Raynaud's syndrome, a condition in which small blood vessels in the fingers or toes constrict when exposed to cold, you probably should not use cold therapy on the affected part of your body. Of course, you should always consult your doctor or physical therapist before trying heat or cold therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.Tips on Using Heat Therapy for RAUse safe heat sources, including hot towels, hot tubs, showers or baths, hot water bottles, microwaveable hot pads, and electric heating pads.