Whether starting a new weight loss program or continuing an old one, there is always a chance for injury, and knowing how to treat it, is something we should all know.  When it comes to knowing whether to apply Ice or heat you should always ask your physician, One of the worst things you can do is to try and do it yourself and apply heat to an injury when it really calls for an Ice pack instead. The purpose of using ether ice or heat is to increase blood flow to the injured area so the healing process can begin. Knowing which pack to grab is what we all need to know.

The purpose of applying heat to an injury is to stimulate sensors in your blood vessels. When these blood vessels are stimulated, they open up to increase blood flow to the injury.  It usually takes a few minutes for these sensors to respond, and as soon as the heat is taken off, the treatment is done.  If you happen to apply heat to your injury that already has some swelling, then applying heat can actually damage the already damaged blood vessel walls by making the swelling even worse. 

The purpose of ice, as with heat, is to increase the blood flow.  You can tell your injured area is responding to the treatment when you see you skin color change to red.  This is a sure sign that the the blood is rushing into the area.  Because of this, if you are to apply ice for 20 minutes, you are actually applying treatment for 40 minutes.  By applying ice, there is no chance of increased swelling. 

When you have an injury, the treatment of choice,  and the safe route to go is to use an Ice pack. The best Ice pack you can use is one that you can make yourself.  Fill a Ziploc bag with ice.  You can increase the temperature to 32 degrees by adding water to the bag without getting freezer burn.  Apply the ice pack to the injured area for 20 minutes, three times a day.

Knowing when and how to apply heat to an injury should always be left to a physician.  If heat is applied to an already inflamed area, you are risking the injury to be delayed in the healing process.  If you want to get more movement , you are better off improving your range of motion with exercises that include a variety of good stretching movements.