When to combine cold and heat
When we practice physical exercise it is common to cause muscle or joint injuries, sprains, strains or just a blow. Precisely from the moment in which tendons, muscles or the tissue close to them are injured, it is common that blood vessels located near the area where they have been produced are also damaged, with hemorrhaging that extends into the tissues and releasing a series of substances that trigger the inflammatory process, "guilty" of the inflammation and the sensation of pain.
Depending on not only the type of injury, but the time elapsed since it can be useful to apply cold, or apply heat. In fact, while the application of cold is advisable within the first 24-48 hours (ideal in case of blows, contractures, sprains and bruises), the application of heat is recommended when those first 48 hours have passed, or when they are chronic complaints such as osteoarthritis, arthritis, cervical pain and rheumatic pain.
But in addition to the individual application of cold or heat it is possible to combine them, since in certain diseases the best results are obtained precisely from the combination of cold and heat.
This is the case, for example, of those people who must perform rehabilitation exercises. And is that while the heat applied before exercise or rehabilitation helps to reduce joint stiffness, when it has been completed with exercise or rehabilitation the application of cold reduces the inflammation of those muscles and tendons worked.
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