Please note: This information is educational and not a substitute for medical advice. Check with your provider before starting a new exercise or self-care routine, especially if you have a heart or lung condition, recent surgery, osteoporosis, or are pregnant.
What it is
Heat and cold are simple, low-cost tools you can use at home. Cold is usually used for new injuries, swelling or a hot, irritated joint. Heat is often used for stiff, tight muscles and chronic aches.
A written “flare plan” helps you know what to do when pain spikes, so you can stay as active as possible.
How it may help
Cleveland Clinic explains that ice may reduce swelling and numb sharp pain, while heat may relax tight muscles and ease stiffness. The NHS suggests heat for joint stiffness or muscle spasm and wrapped ice packs to reduce pain and swelling.[1][2]
For acute low back pain, superficial heat is one of the options recommended by the American College of Physicians.[3]
Results vary from person to person. These approaches are meant to complement, not replace, the care plan from your provider.
Starter routine
Choose ice or heat
Use ice for a new injury, swelling or a hot joint. Use heat for stiffness and tight muscles. If unsure, use what feels better.
Protect your skin
Wrap the ice pack or heat pack in a thin towel.
Apply for 15 to 20 minutes
Set a timer. Check the skin every few minutes for redness, blistering or numbness.
Take a break
Remove it and let the skin return to normal temperature, about an hour, before reapplying.
Keep moving
Follow with gentle movement such as a short walk or easy stretches. Repeat a few times a day during a flare.
Safety tips
- Always put a towel between the skin and the ice or heat source.
- Use for about 15 to 20 minutes at a time, then give the skin a break.
- Check your skin often. Avoid heat and ice over numb areas, and talk to your clinician first if you have diabetes, poor circulation or Raynaud’s.
- Never sleep on a heating pad.
- Keep moving gently during a flare: short walks and easy stretches.
- Write down what helps, so you can repeat it next time.
Stop and call your provider if you notice:
- New weakness, numbness or tingling in a leg or arm, or numbness in the groin or inner thighs
- Loss of bladder or bowel control (call 911 or go to the emergency department)
- Chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness or fainting
- Sharp pain that is clearly worse during or after the activity and does not settle within a day or two
- Fever, unexplained weight loss, or pain after a fall or injury
Mild soreness that fades within a day is common when starting something new. Sharp, spreading or worsening pain is not.
Watch and learn
Video: “Ice vs. Heat” from Cleveland Clinic on YouTube. It loads from youtube-nocookie.com only when you press play. Shown for general education; GSMC did not produce it. Watch on YouTube
Video: “Heat, Ice, Weather and Arthritis” from Cleveland Clinic on YouTube. It loads from youtube-nocookie.com only when you press play. Shown for general education; GSMC did not produce it. Watch on YouTube
Captions: press the CC button in the video player to turn on captions. Some captions are generated automatically by YouTube and may contain errors.
Conditions this may help with
Sources
This information is educational and not a substitute for medical advice.