?So? Which One Do I Use Doctor? Heat or Ice?
Heat has long been used to provide temporary relief of arthritis pain, and is used in many different forms. Contrast baths, whirlpools, electric pads, microwaveable gel packs, hydrocollator packs, infrared lamps, and hot showers are some of the different techniques used. Even warm tap water probably will meet some of your needs for heat therapy at home. Heat can provide temporary relief of pain and stiffness, and can prepare you for physical activity or exercise. For example, morning stiffness is a common problem for many people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because your body has been still during the night you may need special help to get going in the morning. The following combination of techniques using heat can reduce the length and the severity of morning stiffness:
1. Sleep in a sleeping bag (which helps retain body heat) or with an electric blanket (following the manufacturer's instructions).
2. Take your aspirin or other anti-inflammatory medication an hour before you get out of bed in the morning. (Keep a few crackers at your bedside to take with the medication to avoid stomach irritation.)
3. Take a warm shower or bath immediately after you get up.
4. Then do limbering-up exercises after your shower or bath while you still feel warm.
Safety is important in choosing the form of heat you use. You should take great care to avoid burns or electric shocks. Heat must be used with much caution on any area of the body with poor circulation or where you cannot feel heat or cold normally. It should not be used over areas where your skin is fragile or broken. Only mild heat is necessary to get results. You are aiming for a temperature just slightly above body temperature, and you do not have to apply heat for a long time. You will get full benefit by using heat for 20 minutes each time. Moist heat is any technique in which water is used to conduct the heat, such as a bath or shower or hydrocollator packs. People with arthritis prefer moist rather than dry heat, such as a heating pad. Moist heat penetrates more deeply than dry. You will have to try both and see which is more effective and convenient for you. Heating pads are available which provide either moist or dry heat, but they should be chosen and used with care. Make sure the pad is approved by the Underwriter's Laboratory. Look for those which have temperature control switches; those without temperature settings get hotter and hotter until you switch them off. When using a pad, never lie on top of it and make sure you do not fall asleep while it is on. Severe burns can result! It may be wise to use a timer during the treatment. Check the instructions on use carefully. Regularly inspect the pad for any cracks in the plastic cover. Hydrocollator packs are canvas bags containing silicone gel which retain heat for a long time. You can buy them in different shapes at pharmacies. Some people like them because they lose heat more slowly than most wet compresses. The pack is heated in water, wrapped in 8 to 10 layers of heavy toweling and placed over the painful joint. The pack is heated in a large pot of water and placed on heavy towels. Place the surface with the thickest layer of toweling over the part to be treated. Keep in mind that hydrocollator packs do have drawbacks. They are not practical if heat is needed for several joints, because each pack can be used for only one part at a time. They are also cumbersome to use and may be too heavy placed over a painful joint. If your hands are affected by your arthritis, it may be difficult for you to remove the heavy pack from the water with the tongs. So you may need help. Again, you must be very careful about burns. If you decide to try such a pack, follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully. Microwaveable gel packs are popular. Follow the instructions carefully or else the bag containing the gel may leak? or even worse explode and cause serious burns! Physical therapists sometimes use melted paraffin as a means of applying heat, particularly to the hands. There are units available for home use as well. Because they involve high temperatures, paraffin baths should be used with caution. Patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis involving the hands often find paraffin to be helpful. You can buy nylon and spandex gloves which can reduce morning stiffness of the hands for some people when worn at night. The gloves are available in both men's and women's sizes. It is important to wear adequate, warm clothing in cold weather. Some people find that knitted, woolen or fleece pullover cuffs on painful joints, especially the knees, ankles and elbows are helpful in keeping the joints warm and more comfortable in cold weather. Some people with arthritis find that heat does not help them. In fact, the reverse is often best-cold compresses. Cold may be especially effective when active inflammation produces severe pain and joint swelling. Only trying different modalities will enable you to find out which is best for you. It is easy to make a cold pack by filling a small plastic bag with a few ice cubes. A bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel can be used. Place any cold pack over the painful joint with a layer of terry cloth toweling in between. The same precautions that apply to the use of heat should be observed when using cold. The maximum benefit is achieved in less than 20 minutes. You may wish to repeat this application several times a day. For many people with arthritis an effective approach is alternating warm and cold water applications, a process called contrast baths. It is most useful for a hand or foot which can be dipped in a large pot filled with water. If you decide to give it a try, use a thermometer to check temperatures. 1. Fill one container 2/3 full with 110 degree F water.
2. Fill a second container 2/3 full with 65 degree F water.
3. Put your hands or feet completely into the warm water for three minutes; then put them into the cold water for one minute.
4. Repeat step #3 two more times.
5. End the treatment with three more minutes in the warm water; then carefully dry the hands or feet.
Finally?and very importantly? with acute musculoskeletal pain, and particularly with injuries, always use ice. The formula to remember is RICE...
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation Dr. Wei (pronounced "way") is a board-certified rheumatologist and Clinical Director of the nationally respected Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center of Maryland. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and has served as a consultant to the Arthritis Branch of the National Institutes of Health. He is a Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology and the American College of Physicians. For more information on arthritis and related conditions, go to: http://www.arthritis-treatment-and-relief.com
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Arthritis Pain Relief : Questions To Ask Your Healthcare Provider
A great place to begin taking charge of you arthritis pain relief and prevention planning is by making an appointment with your healthcare provider and finding out more about your condition and treatment options.
Online Pharmacies and the FDA
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is responsible for overseeing the testing, manufacturing, and distribution of prescription drugs in the United States.
Drug Them and Send Them Out
It was around 1986, when my son Lewis was diagnosed of having ADHD. I like using the term "accused" of having ADHD. I really disagree with anyone who goes this route to get the child to learn. Most of the time it's the teachers of our children that does the diagnosing. Is this sane? Should we trust their opinion.
Safely Mimicking the Effects of Accutane Without the Side-effects or Costs
Since 1982 Accutane has been a reliable, if not controversial, drug for treating severe acne. Now with FDA representative David J. Graham's statement that Accutane should be taken off the market, and pharmaceutical manufacturer La Roche's defense of Accutane's safety in a Florida courtroom, access to Accutane faces mounting restrictions.
A Very Medical Miracle
Madeline Mann once weighed less can a can of soda making her the tiniest surviving newborn known to medicine. Next week, she enters high school as something even more exrtaordinary- a honor student who likes to play violin and Rollerblade.
Exposing the Miracle Cure
It was Saturday morning and while I was making breakfast, letting the cats outside, and watering my half-dead plants, I had the TV on. Saturday morning TV is usually composed of nothing but infomercials and today was no different.
New Antidepressant Developments and Approvals
New antidepressant development, until fairly recently, was at best a random, and at worst a problematic and frustrating, process. Often, medications that were developed for one thing were discovered quite accidentally to have much more important therapeutic effects for a completely different disorder. It has been well described that some of the original antipsychotics were originally developed to assist in anesthesia, and some of the original new antidepressants were originally intended to be medications for tuberculosis or psychosis. New antidepressant development was done on a "chemical" basis; that is, guesses were made as to compounds that would be safe and effective based on chemical structures of established medications. This was very much a trial-and-error process, since very little was known about how these drugs worked and very little could be measured beyond actually giving them to a patient.
Food for Thought
Depression is a disorder marked by sadness, low energy, impaired concentration, and feelings of dejection. Some people believe that depression is normal. Hectic daily activities and the conflict between family and career cause constant stress. Yet depression and anxiety as a response to stress are not normal. They can be signs of illness, which may worsen and result in physical symptoms or an inability to function.
Marketing Authorisation - Medicinal Products
Marketing Authorisation: Medicinal Products The case of R (on the application of Merck Sharp and Dohme Ltd) v Licensing Authority [2005], concerned the application for marketing authorisation for a generic product which was based on Product C (see below).
Thimerosal: Autism and Mercury Poisoning Side Effects?
Thimerosal is a preservative that is added to vaccines (has been since the 1930s) that is almost half (49.6% by weight) mercury. Preservatives are added to vaccines to prevent bacteria and fungi from growing. These vaccines include antivenins, skin test antigens, ophthalmic and nasal products. Thimerosal preserved vaccines have been given to children as well as adults.
Seroquel Side Effects: Effects of Seroquel Worth the Risk?
Seroquel is an atypical antipsychotic drug that is used to treat hallucinations, delusions and confusion caused by psychotic conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Atypical antipsychotics are not SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) or benzodiazepines. Atypical antipsychotics like Seroquel affect only certain parts of the brain, blocking the input of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, histamine, and muscarine. The benefit to atypical antipsychotics is that they are non-habit forming and are not as frequently abused as normal antipsychotics.
Questions to Your Physician or Psychotherapist
According to ongoing research about the needs of patients with emotional problems misinformation or shame to speak about the problem with the doctor or psychotherapist is a major limitation to treatment success. However, transparency, good information and participation in the course of the therapy is the most important factor for a lasting positive result. Maybe the following list of the most relevant questions might help you to get good information about your personal somatic or psychological problems, diagnosis and treatment options.
?Do you suffer from Osteoarthritis? Here?s how to tell!?
The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis (OA). This type of arthritis is commonly referred to as wear and tear arthritis or degenerative arthritis."
Pagan Medicine: Then and Now
A time will come when our children's children will look back upon the age of "modern" medicine of the 21st century as paganistic witchcraft, foisted upon ignorant masses of people. May God rightly judge those who corrupted His ministry of healing and killed His children.
Overview of FDA Recalled Drug - BEXTRA
Bextra, also known as valdecoxib, is a prescription medicine known as a COX-2 Inhibitor. Like Vioxx and Celebrex, it supposedly lessen the pain of inflammation and fever without causing stomach irritation common to aspirin and other NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs). Pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer released Bextra in 2001, and prescription sales soon rose to 3.2 billion dollars.
Chinese Medicine
Chinese Medicine, over 2000 years old, is an ancient form of medicine. Consisting of acupuncture, moxibustion (moxibustion - using material made up of "moxa-wool," in a form of a cone or stick; moxibustion is used to treat and prevent disease by applying heat to pints or certain locations of the human body), herbal medicine, acupressure, cupping, therapeutic exercise and nutrition, traditional Chinese medicine is notated by its principle of internal balance and harmony, or "chi," (life force) regulation through energy channels.
Heel Pain - Ten Tips for Treatment
The most common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis
(plan * tar fash* ee * I * tis). If you experience a sharp pain
in your heel when you first step down in the morning, it is
most likely due to plantar fasciitis. This type of heel pain
may also occur as achiness at the end of the day in the heel
or even burning pain in the arch. Plantar fasciitis can be
associated with a heel spur, but this is not the cause of the
pain. When the long ligament like structure (plantar fascia)
on the bottom of the foot pulls on the heel bone over a
period of time, a spur is formed. Only 50% of individuals
with plantar fasciitis have a bone spur in their heel. The
spur will never go away, but the plantar fasciitis will. Plantar
fasciitis is typically caused by a new activity, a new pair of
shoes, a worn out pair of shoes, a change of routine or
change in job. Individuals with flatfeet or abnormal motion in
the feet may have a higher chance of developing plantar
fasciitis. Once you develop plantar fasciitis, you may find it
very difficult to treat.
An Addition For Practitioners - How to Help Your Patients and Your Practice
Please feel free to comment, so I may modify this appropriately, or help
Do you refer to other modalities or tests?
What is Bextra? (FDA Recalled Drug)
Bextra, also known as valdecoxib, is a prescribed medication used to alleviate the problems associated with arthritis and other inflammation-related conditions. The drug helps reduce the pain of swelling and fever without causing stomach irritation like aspirin.
Tempest in a Tea Cup, Wisdom in a Sake Cup
What an oxymoron the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has turned out to be. This vegan organization has one colossal ax to grind with their archrival, Darth Atkins. This is an old score that they've unfairly flung in front of the public before, all in the effort to squash the low carb idea and its adherents.
|
