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Get Rid of My Back Pain
Back
Pain Relief: Ice or Heat?
If you’re trying to answer the question about
using ice or heat for a pain in your back, you’ll need to know
what is causing the pain. It is important to know because the
wrong type of treatment can cause more damage and pain in your
back. Learn what to do, and how to do it, when treating painful
backaches.
A word of caution needs to be stated about back pain when
you have any type of systemic inflammatory disease such as
Scleroderma or Lupus. These two types of arthritic diseases
are serious, and any inflammatory pain needs to be evaluated
by your specialist or general practitioner. Your doctor will
want to look for a worsening of the disease, and any medications
such as steroids could be increased, or another new medication
could be added to help you fight systemic pain. On the other
hand, if you’ve never been diagnosed with either of these diseases,
and have chronic pain, it would be good to be evaluated by
a specialist.
In trying to decide on using ice or heat for your back pain,
due to an acute or chronic pain, look at the symptoms
first. Pain from an acute injury will most always be accompanied by
tenderness, swelling and inflammation, within 24 or 48 hours
of an accident. Any type of fall or hit whether it’s from a
typical type of accident, like falling from a ladder, or straining
a muscle from a rough game of football, can cause muscle damage
to your back. This type of injury is acute, but there are chronic
injuries as well. These types of injuries are usually found
with athletes, which are left untreated or not treated properly.
If you engage in sports on a semi-professional level, make
sure you know how to treat injuries, or they could become chronic
conditions of pain.
For
your acute pain related to injury, the best treatment
is to apply ice to the back. Cold packs can be bought on the
market that be applied to your injury that conforms to the
body. Don’t apply an ice product that can slip off, or dig
into the skin. Deep bruising and surface cuts hurt and damage
to the nerves in the back will occur because of the compression
of them. Never attempt to attach a cold compress by any means
such as Velcro or an elastic band to hold a compress tighter
to your skin. Circulation can be cut off which will delay healing
to your back, and in the end cause more pain to the area. Remember,
conformity to the body by purchasing a correct ice compress
is the best. If you find yourself in a jam, you can always
use a frozen bag of vegetables, such as peas, until you can
purchase an ice bag, or compress for your injury.
Ice pack therapy is good for your acute injury because it
reduces swelling to the injury. Cold packs when you apply them
will limit the blood supply to the area by narrowing the surface
blood vessels in the skin. Don’t leave ice on an acute injury
for more than fifteen minutes at a time. Skin can become frost
bitten, and you’ll not be able to tell if the ice pack has
warmed to the point of ineffectiveness too. Always allow the
skin to return to your normal body temperature and reapply
the ice as needed. For chronic injury, you can ice down as
needed after exercise or work, but always use the proper reapplication
process for acute injury. Don’t ever use an ice compress before
strenuous activity because your muscles will constrict along
with the blood vessels and an acute re-injury will occur.
Heat
therapy for injuries is best for either an acute or chronic
condition of pain in the back. Don’t use heat therapy
for either condition if there’s muscle inflammation. Any type
of heat
increases blood circulation, and it helps un-tense muscles
and provides relief for pain. Muscle spasms are relaxed too
because of increased blood flow to them. As with ice you can
apply several times per day, but only 20 to 30 minutes at
a time. Always watch for excessive heat to your skin because
of blisters. Use a towel or rag between your skin and the heating
source for protection. A moist hot towel can be applied for
relief of back pain, but don’t apply it with any electrical
heating source because of electrical shock. Heat compresses
can be purchased which is a safe way to provide relief for
pain.
Remember,
know what type of injury you have, and you will find the
best treatment. If your injury doesn’t improve within
48 hours seek medical help. Be safe with treatment and your
back will thank you for it.
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by SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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