Hot and Cold Packs

This is a useful technique for dealing with muscular/skeletal injuries.

Conventional wisdom holds that you use cold for the first 48 hours after an injury to hold down the swelling.  Later heat can be useful for increasing circulation.  If cold is prescribed, it is usually only useful as temporary relief by numbing the area.

If an area is not healing and has turned chronic, I prescribe this technique.

Materials:  

1.  A heating pad with cover - something between you and the plastic.

2.  A cold pack - blue ice, an ice bag or a bag of peas.

Technique:

1.  Start with heat - apply the heat until the area is warm and toasty.

2.  Next, apply the cold until the area is slightly numb - no more than 5 minutes.

3.  Now reheat until warm and toasty again.

4.  Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the cold is no longer cold - about 30 minutes.

5.  End with heat - apply heat until the area is warm and toasty.

Remember - start with heat, end with heat.

Actions:  Seems to have a pumping action - moving fluids into the damaged area and waste products out.

This can be done once or twice a day.