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For pain: heat or cold?
Intuitively, we reach for a hot water bottle when we have a stomach ache, while we quickly treat a twisted ankle with an ice pack. But is that actually correct? And what about other injuries?
Heat helps with this pain
If we heat a part of the body, the blood vessels dilate here. This leads to better oxygen supply, nutrient transport and faster defense processes. A soothing hot water bottle also relaxes our muscles. Thanks to this relaxation, heat helps especially with pain that arises or worsens due to muscle spasms. These include:
- back pain
- neck tension
- muscle soreness
- cramps
- stomach pain
- abdominal cramps
- Gastrointestinal complaints
- menstrual cramps
Cooling helps with these injuries
Logically, cold causes exactly the opposite of heat. The blood vessels narrow, the metabolic processes proceed more slowly. Cooling measures are therefore suitable for injuries that are supposed to have weaker blood circulation. For example, in the case of inflammation, since the damaged tissue is particularly well supplied with blood there. Cooling is therefore useful for these types of pain:
- acute injury
- bruises
- Operationswunden
- Muscle injuries (e.g. strain or torn muscle fiber)
- Brustentzündung
Cold also has an anesthetic effect because it inhibits pain receptors. Clean fresh wounds first and cover them well before the cold ice pack is placed on them. Avoid direct contact of the device with the wound, this could be contaminating and cause infection.
Here, too, make sure that the cool pack does not come out of the freezer frozen, but only chilled out of the refrigerator. Strong cooling slows down the blood flow to the affected area too much.
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Cold or heat: Depending on the situation
Incidentally, headaches and joint pain are situation-dependent . Here the first aid depends on the cause of the pain. If you suffer from joint problems due to osteoarthritis, apply heat to the area. This allows the stiffened muscles to relax. However, if the joints are acutely inflamed, cooling is the better choice.
If the headache stems from a tense neck, warmth tends to help here too. However, if the pain is stabbing in the forehead, counteract it with cold.
Also exciting: Everything about headaches can be found here >>
