What Is Best For Arthritis Pain Heat Or Ice

Some patients prefer cold therapy to moist heat for arthritis pain while others tell of having the best relief when they alternate the sessions with moist heat and ice.

What is best for arthritis pain heat or ice. While prescription medication and physical therapy are the first line of defense for addressing arthritis causes an age old home remedy heat or cold therapy may help reduce pain and improve. Heat boosts the flow of blood and nutrients to an area of the body. Sometimes deep penetrating heat is the best thing to reduce your arthritis pain. The thermotex infrared heating pad tts platinum model is the most popular although there are other thermotex therapy systems available.

Once inflammation has gone down heat can be used to ease stiffness. Ice is preferred but heat wraps can halt neck spasms that contribute to headache. But for acute gout flares she favors ice. Heat and cold treatments can help relieve arthritis pain and inflammation.

You can experiment with. Use heating pads for no more than 20 minutes at a time. Apply heat before your mall trip and cold after you return home. Heat loosens up muscles increases flexibility and increases circulation.

Conventional medical wisdom suggests using ice to treat an acute injury or pain that occurs after activity. Accordingly heat applications can sometimes work best early in the day by relaxing the muscles around the joints while ice applications at the end of the day can minimize the inflammation resulting from the daily activities. Before and after physical activity what about prior to exercise activity. It often works best for morning stiffness or to warm up muscles before activity.

Cold slows blood flow reducing swelling and. Heat treatments can include taking a long warm shower or bath in the morning to help ease stiffness and using an electric. Use of heat such as applying heating pads to aching joints taking hot baths or showers or immersing painful joints in warm paraffin wax can help relieve pain temporarily. Patients with more chronic osteoarthritis usually feel better with heat says rheumatologist linda mileti md.

For an acute injury such as a pulled muscle or injured tendon the usual recommendation is to start by applying ice to reduce inflammation and dull pain.