When it comes to minor physical injuries, a type of treatment that may be able to help relieve pain is ice therapy. While always best to be performed by a qualified health practitioner, ice therapy is often performed at home (such as with an ice pack) to help treat common physical injuries or relieve pain. Keep reading to find out what ice therapy may be able to treat and how you can perform it yourself at home!
What is ice therapy?
Ice therapy, also known as cold therapy or cryotherapy, is a type of health treatment which works to reduce blood flow to a particular area of the body – thereby reducing inflammation and swelling. When applied to areas of the body for longer periods of time, ice therapy can relieve pain by reducing nerve activity and sensitivity.
What can ice therapy treat?
Ice therapy is most commonly helpful when treating:
- Injuries sustained from high impact or sudden falls and trips
- Injuries sustained from playing sports (particularly high impact ones)
- Sharp or sudden pain in the lower back
- Minor sprains in the lower back
Chiropractors recommend ice therapy in response to the above listed injuries due to the fact that ice can help reduce blood flow to affected and injured areas – thus also reducing the inflammation on relevant joints and muscles. Ice therapy may also be beneficial when treating inflammations of a joint in
What can you use in ice therapy?
As ice therapy can be easily performed at home, there are many common tools that you can use to your advantage for ice therapy from the average home as well. Most simply, you can use an ice pack that you already keep in your fridge (e.g. those for lunch boxes) or you can make an ice pack yourself using a bag and ice cubes.
A pack of frozen vegetables from your freezer can also do the job! However, to make sure this is comfortable for you, you can also wrap your makeshift ice pack in a thin towel before applying onto the injured or tender part of your body.
When should you see a health practitioner?
Ice therapy performed at home may not always be the solution to your health concern. Even if your health problem is one of those listed above, ice therapy may not completely treat your injury, nor be the most suitable form of treatment for it. If you are finding that ice therapy is not relieving you of your pains over several treatment periods, it may be time to visit a health practitioner.
A health practitioner who is familiar with treating injuries with ice therapy may be your best option, however others such as chiropractors may also be helpful in treating sports injuries and back pains with spinal manipulation methods. Do your research and find out which local health practitioner may be most experienced at treating your health concern, and book an appointment with them if your home ice therapy does not work out.
About The Author
Dan Taylor
Dan is responsible for content marketing and branding at GuestPostBlogging. He writes about topics related to startup naming, branding and entrepreneurship.
