Hot and cold therapy makes up a wide range of products and devices designed to help relieve pain, promote healing, and ease mobility in an injured or sore muscle or joint. More than just the old ice pack, these tools help promote health, mobility, and pain relief through the non-invasive, and non-addictive use of heat and cold.
Whether used alone or in conjunction, hot and cold therapy is the best way to relieve pain and swelling from a variety of injuries like arthritis, pulled muscles, and even recovery post-surgery.
Related Articles and/or Buying Guides: Hot and cold therapies are often used to treat injuries, inflammation, and pain of all levels of severity, both acute and chronic. Often used to maintain health in athletes, people with chronic pain, and those living with conditions like arthritis, heat and cold are the best way to help heal muscle and joint pain as well as minor injury.
Heating helps promote mobility, relieve pain and stiffness, and is the best option for conditions like arthritis and similar chronic pain. It can also be used in combination with cold therapy to help ease healing in muscle and joint injuries by keeping the area lubricated and mobile.
Heat is often applied with:
Cold is great for relieving inflammation and stimulating healing. The cold temperature helps to encourage the flow of fresh blood and fluids to the injury, speeding healing and keeping swelling down by keeping circulation moving. In addition, the cold helps numb the area, relieving pain.
Cold is most often applied through:
In addition to cold and heat, cold compression therapy is a great solution for faster healing or more serious injuries. This therapy works by actually pumping the swelling away from the area, manually stimulating the flow of trapped fluids out and fresh blood into the area to heal it.
