Using Cold and Hot Contrast Therapy

We all know that when we stub our toe we need to apply ice, after yelling profusely of course. We also know that great feeling we get when we apply a warm compress after hurting our back from lifting something heavy. But why is this? We perform these actions because cold therapy is good for inflammation and pain while heat therapy is also good for pain but is also used to reduce joint stiffness. In other words, cold therapy cools your skin and narrows the blood vessels to help reduce the amount of blood on the injured site. Heat therapy heats up the skin and circulates blood flow to promote flexibility and speed up the healing process. Both are known to accomplish pain relief and promote healing which is why when used together you can perform Cold and Hot Contrast Therapy.

The contrasting temperatures of both cold and heat therapy can influence your body’s pain gate mechanism. This temporarily alters pain signals traveling to and from your brain giving much-needed relief from long-lasting pain. This type of therapy is known as contrast therapy, a healing tool that has been used for thousands of years. To apply contrast therapy in your life, you must first do a 20 to 30-minute session of heat therapy. Heat therapy is done by either taking a warm bath or using a heat pack. Then in a successive fashion take an ice bath or the use of a cold pack for 20 to 30 minutes. When done this way you will begin to feel the effects of contrast therapy.

One product we recommend for contrast therapy is our reusable Relief Pak® Cold n’ Hot® pack. The Cold n’ Hot® packs can either be heated in a microwave for heat therapy or chilled in a freezer for cold therapy. For contrast therapy we recommend using two packs having one pack designated for cold therapy and another one for heat therapy. This assures you will get that instant contrast from switching between these convenient multipurpose packs.

Cold and hot packs are useful when there are no hot and cold baths available for use. For strictly cold therapy, we offer our blue vinyl or black urethane packs. Conversely, for strictly heat therapy we offer the Relief Pak® Hot Button® Reusable Instant Hot Compress or our Relief Pak® HotSpot® Moist Heat Packs.

If you’re considering incorporating contrast therapy into your treatment routine, you should talk with your primary care provider to discuss the risks, benefits and treatment options available.

To find out more about our Relief Pak® Cold n’ Hot® packs, click here. If you want to know more about contrast therapy, check out painscience.com.