Ice vs. Heat Basics

Ice it or Heat it? That is the question. I’m here to answer that along with when to use, how to use it and any other confusing questions people have about it. I’m going to break it down to the basics and by the end of this you’ll understand the difference between ice vs. heat. First things first, you must understand what happens to your body when something external transfers internal. No matter what, it will always defend itself. It always has a reaction.

When talking about an injury, we want to grasp the concept that your body is protecting itself naturally. There are many benefits to icing as well as heating. The biggest benefit to icing is the numbing effect it has. So basically what happens is the ice slows down the flow of blood which slows the impulse response of the nerves until the body no longer feels the area, thus slowing down inflammation. At some point your body is going to think you’re going into hypothermia and will rush a lot of blood flow through that area, which you cannot feel since it’s numb. So, in a nutshell, icing brings a lot of blood to an area and slows down inflammation. When it comes to healing, blood is king! The more blood you have going to an area, the faster it will heal.

Now, on the flip side, with heat, it instantly brings a lot of blood flow to the area. What happens here is, if it’s an acute issue, like a rolled ankle, you apply heat and it’s going to blow up since blood will start to flow to that area immediately. When using heat you may feel a ton more sensation since you are speeding up the nerve impulse conductivity. Your body will speak to you so much more in a blood-rich environment than a blood-latent environment. You want to remember this when deciding which method to use. Ice will numb the area and eventually bring blood flow and heat will bring blood flow immediately.

The body responds to everything it needs. If your body needs blood flow, use heat. However, if you hurt yourself, meaning acute condition you’ll want to ice it. I’ve read many different statistics and heard many different professionals talk about how long you want to use ice. Bottom line is, as long as your body is not receiving blood flow, it’s actually not healing. If you have pain, your body will not be healing anyway since it’s going to want to protect itself. After three or four days of ice, if your acute pain is gone and you continue to ice the area you will actually slow down the bonding aspect of the healing process. Yes, you’ll feel better, but when it comes down to stability and structure for later on, you’re genuinely slowing down the healing process. That is when you want to switch to heat. You’ll want to bring more blood flow to the area and get it moving. That’s the rule of thumb, ice in the very beginning and then always use heat, otherwise you’re just slowing down the long-term healing operation.

I personally am a big fan of always using heat just because it feels good. Even when you have an acute issue you can use a little heat. I wouldn’t go as far as to use a heating pad however. I would more use my hands and just hold the area, comfort it and squeeze it. For an injury such as a rolled ankle, twisted knee or sore muscle, I would actually hold the area. Same goes for bruises; you want to get more blood flow at a small pace-very very brief pace.

Take-Away

There are a lot of statistics out there, but don’t get caught up in them. What I want you to focus on is just what feels right to you. If it feels right that you use heat, then use it. If you want to use ice, use it. Just be aware of the timeline you’re working with so you’re consistently understanding your body. It’s alright to take a shot, as long as you feel good. That is when your body will perpetually run better and more efficient.