1、Ice or hot compress for injury?
Ice should be applied for acute inflammation or just injury, while hot compress should be applied for chronic inflammation or chronic injury.
The effect of ice compress is mainly to reduce the temperature of the ice compress part, which can make the skin and subcutaneous blood vessels contract, reduce the local blood circulation, and achieve the effect of reducing metabolism. Ice compress can also reduce the permeability of blood vessels, which has a good effect on hemostasis and detumescence. Besides, ice compress can also reduce muscle spasms caused by injury and avoid secondary injury of tissue cells.
On the other hand, the effect of hot compress is to increase the temperature, relax the blood vessels and increase the local blood circulation. By increasing the metabolic rate of the injured part, the inflammatory substances can be quickly eliminated from the body and the self-healing ability of the tissue can be improved. Besides, a hot compress can also soften the body, increase the extensibility of soft tissue and reduce joint stiffness, reduce muscle spasm, and achieve the effect of relieving pain and relaxing mood.
Injured ice or hot compress, ice and hot compress should be controlled in how long?
2、How long should ice compress and hot compress be controlled?
For parts of the body with less fat, such as ankles, knees, and elbows, the application time must be shortened, and it is better to turn them up from time to time for inspection; even for parts with more fat, such as thighs or buttocks, the application time should not exceed 20 minutes.
For some special ethnic groups, such as people who feel very sensitive or insensitive (such as patients with diabetes or stroke), and patients with abnormal blood circulation function, ice compress, and hot compress should be used with special care.
If the body has an open wound, or the skin is sensitive to temperature, you should avoid using ice or a hot compress.
In short, if there is obvious redness, swelling, heat, and pain in the painful part of the body, or if it is a definite acute sports injury, don’t doubt it is an ice compress! When the inflamed or injured part is no longer swollen or is no longer so red and hot, you can start a hot compress.
The time of ice compress and hot compress is mainly based on the actual condition of the body, instead of sticking to ice compress a few hours ago and hot compress a few hours later. As long as grasp a principle: red, swelling, heat, pain period is ice compress after that is hot compress.