A question I get asked a lot by clients and people who suffer with back pain is a really simple one: “When do I use ice and when do I use heat?” Rightly or wrongly, 9 out of 10 of my clients tend to favor heat – a nice hot water bottle, a soak in the bath, or one of those lavender scented wheat bags to try and ease their back pain. (I think a lot of people don’t like the idea of putting cold ice on their back, unless it’s really hot outside!) As you can appreciate every health concern and injury is different. Sometimes it’s ice to cool it down, or heat to help relax it… it can be very confusing!
When To Use Ice
There’s one time in particular we say to use ice and that’s when something just happened and it’s very painful, likely hot and maybe swollen. This is an ‘acute’ injury. Acute meaning it just happened. For example, an ankle sprain or pulled muscle. When it comes to your back pain, the time to use ice is if your back has suddenly ‘gone’ and you’re in a lot of pain, or you’ve overdone it and your back becomes very painful towards the end of the day. You see, your body is actually very clever. Let’s use an ankle sprain as an example… When you sprain your ankle your body will immediately try and protect itself. This is why you get swelling and it becomes very hot and painful. The swelling is just your body’s natural cushion to protect against the sprain.
The pain and heat comes from the inflammation. Again this is your body’s way of trying to protect and heal itself, if something’s painful – you’re not going to want to touch it are you? The exact same thing is happening in your back too, you just cant see it. So your ankle, back, or whatever you’ve hurt can start to heal without anymore damage.
So that’s WHY it happens. But this pain can be worse than the actual injury itself, so cooling it down with ice is a simple method to help ease the intensity of the pain as soon as possible. And by using the cool ice little and often on the injury (20 minutes every hour or so), the cooling and warming of the injury will help the blood keep flowing around the area to help it heal even quicker. Now we’ve got an idea of when the best time is to use ice, so now…
When To Use Heat
Try thinking of it like this… When something is warm, it’s softer, and when something is cold, it’s harder (think of a chocolate bar. Like most things, when chocolate is warm it’s softer), it’s exactly the same with our body too. With that in mind, I always explain to my patients that it’s time to apply heat when you feel more stiff, achy and need to get things moving – that’s the perfect time to use heat. So first thing on a morning if your back’s feeling really stiff and tight, a hot shower to loosen the muscles also works wonders. Follow that with some gentle stretches too and you’ll feel a huge difference!
Typically if it’s something that’s been nagging you for sometime (chronic), and it’s more stiff and achy rather than painful then heat is the way to go. The reason it’s stiff and aching is because the muscle joints are so tight. Like anything, you warm it up and it’s more supple. It’s exactly the same with your joints and muscles… Muscles should be able to move, if they’re stiff and tight, you’re more likely to have an injury by over stretching them as they simply can’t stretch as far as you need them too.
Professional Athletes Do It!
It’s for this same exact reason footballers and any sports people ‘warm up’ before doing their sport – so they don’t pull a muscle! When we’re asleep at night our muscles cool down because they aren’t being used, so our blood is going directly to our brain for our dreams and for our stomach to digest our dinner. So why don’t we ‘warm up’ first thing on a morning to get us ready for the day? Don’t worry, I’m not talking about 10 laps jogging around the block. Just a warm shower followed by a few minutes of simple stretching.
Now Offering FREE Online Fitness Classes
We’re thrilled to announce that we are now offering FREE online classes to help you with your stretching and mobility routines! Many of us are at home now with less physical activity than normal and we need to stretch! Take the guess-work out of it and join one of our free online sessions led by experts to help keep you moving and keep you healthy!
Our full body stretching and mobility class is on Tuesdays at 3pm and our low back pain class is on Fridays at 12:15pm. To register today or ask any questions you may have about these sessions, please email us at info@penrosept.com or call our clinic at (360)-456-1444 between 7:30am and 6pm Mon-Fri.
Podcasts
This month Jen interviews Dr. Dominic Femiano, a top local surgeon right here in our backyard at Olympia Orthopedics. We see a lot of Dr. Femiano’s patients in the clinic and he was kind enough to take time this month and sit down to talk about tendon injuries. A majority of people will experience a tendon injury in their lifetime and Dr. Femiano helps us break down the kinds of injuries, how to best prevent them and even brought new research to the table for tendon injury treatments! Don’t miss this incredibly insightful discussion!
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stay-healthy-south-sound/id1460144640
Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/sulp
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3feMt6PJtvtDBcpqPV8xXc
“Run Forever” Is Out NOW!
Dr. Penrose just released her first ever book with a focus on running injuries, why they happen and how to prevent them to keep you running forever. Jen is an avid runner with nearly 20 years’ experience in treating and preventing running injuries. She also holds a board certification in orthopedic specialization, lending even further experience and clinical expertise. Jen has poured her heart and soul into this book hoping to bring a combination of her own passion for running and her clinical applications that have made her a leading physical therapist helping runners throughout our community.
Many of us have either increased our running or recently taken it up as a form of exercise during this time of social distancing. With that comes the risk of overuse injuries and other issues. Keep yourself moving and healthy by grabbing the book today! Topics include shin splints, Achilles tendonitis, hamstring injuries and more! Not only that but you’ll help a small business owner during this time from the comfort of your own home! Click the link below to grab it today!
