When to ice and when to heat an injury?

By Physiofusion Ltd

20 Feb 2019

When it comes to pain or an injury, there is often much confusion about when to ice and when to heat.

Therapeutic icing and heating are a safe, cheap and easy self-treatment option for many common painful problems, but knowing which one is correct for a particular issue leaves many of us unsure.

Heat and ice are recommended for a range of muscular skeletal injuries as ways of reducing pain, decrease swelling or increase healing. However, knowing how often and how long we should apply either of these methods for is also something we can be unsure of.

Hopefully we can help clear this up a little!

To begin with, whether we use the icing method or the heating method, 15-20 minutes on and off is usually considered a reasonable amount of time.

Ice should generally be used for injuries. Ice helps to calm down damaged tissues that have become inflamed, red, hot and swollen (usually from injuries such as, knocks, and sprains). As worrying as seeing our body parts inflamed can be, it is actually a healthy, normal and natural process – it is our bodies way of trying to protect itself. Icing is mostly just a mild way of calming the pain of inflammation and bringing the swelling down without having to use any form of drug.

The cold provides pain relief as it decreases the action of nerves in the area of pain and reduces blood flow, slowing down cellular activity.

Heat should be used on muscle issues, chronic pain, and stress. The heat from either a wheat bag or hot towel helps to take the edge off symptoms such as muscle aching, stiffness and chronic pain. It is particularly useful for back pain, helping to relieve the build-up of tension in the upper back, neck and shoulder area that so often comes from an issue with our back.

Heat on an injured area can provide comfort and pain relief due to the effects it has on nerve stimulation, as well as, increasing blood flow and cellular activity, which are important in encouraging the healing of damaged tissue. Heating an area can also help it to become more flexible.

The do’s and don’ts with ice and heat

Both ice and heat have the potential to do some minor, temporary harm when used incorrectly. Heat can make inflammation significantly worse and ice can aggravate symptoms of tightness and stiffness; it can also just make any pain worse when it’s unwanted.

Both ice and heat are pointless if used incorrectly or in the wrong situation.

We must be especially wary of icing muscle pain. It is quite easy to suffer with pain in our back that isn’t the cause of an “injury”. For example, muscle knots aren’t considered an injury – they are usually a symptom of an underlying issue. Physiotherapists use trigger point release to help muscle knots and if we don’t particularly know what we’re doing and we happen to ice trigger points, they can burn and ache even more acutely.

Heat and inflammation are the other particularly bad combination. Adding heat to a fresh injury will only make it worse. The heat will increase the swelling and unfortunately the pain!

The general rule is to ice and injury and to heat aches and pain, so you may be wondering, what do we do for muscle injuries (a muscle tear or muscle strain) then?

It’s not always that easy, but generally ice usually wins — but only for the first few days at most, and only if it really is a true muscle injury. A true muscle injury usually involves obvious trauma during intense effort, causing severe pain suddenly. If the muscle is truly torn, then use ice to take the edge off the inflammation at first. Once the worst is over, switch to heat.

If you are still unsure what to do with a particular issue, feel free to get in touch with your local physiotherapist, we’re always more than happy to help with anything like this.

If you’d like some advice on an injury or issue you have, you can call us on 01282 453 110 or use our FREE Ask A Physio service.

Latest news

1

Three weekly domestic waste collection considered in plans Waste recycling Blackpool

Three weekly domestic waste collection considered in plans

01 Jul 2025

2

Graham Engineering confirms sale to a2e Industries Graham Engineering

Graham Engineering confirms sale to a2e Industries

01 Jul 2025

3

Training 2000 celebrates 'Good' rating by Ofsted Training 2000

Training 2000 celebrates 'Good' rating by Ofsted

01 Jul 2025

4

Fox Group acquires J Fisher and Sons Colin Fisher, Paul Fox CEO and Gary Fisher.

Fox Group acquires J Fisher and Sons

01 Jul 2025

5

Beever and Struthers strengthen leadership team with new partners Dean Curtis and Joe Diston

Beever and Struthers strengthen leadership team with new partners

01 Jul 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
LBV123 July/August Launch Event
Lancashire Business View magazine launch
Networking
16 Jul 2025

LBV123 July/August Launch Event

Burnley

08:30 - 10:30

Lancashire Built Environment Conference 2025
BEC 315 X 315 Px
Networking
25 Sep 2025

Lancashire Built Environment Conference 2025

Blackpool Football Club, Blackpool, FY1 6HX

08:30 - 13:00

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

The Marketing Metrics that Matter – July 4
LBV Hub Seminars
04 Jul 2025 - 04 Jul 2025

The Marketing Metrics that Matter – July 4

Door4 Office, Burnley Wharf, Burnley, BB11 1JG

08:30 - 11:00

Tri-Site Survey Equipment Showcase
unnamed (2).jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
09 Jul 2025 - 09 Jul 2025

Tri-Site Survey Equipment Showcase

Crow Wood Hotel, Burnley, BB12 0RT

09:30 - 16:00

Blackburn Cathedral hosts Champagne and Diamonds Event with Ainsworth Jewellers
Champagne-Jewellery 10 07 25_page-0001.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Awards
10 Jul 2025 - 10 Jul 2025

Blackburn Cathedral hosts Champagne and Diamonds Event with Ainsworth Jewellers

Blackburn Cathedral, Blackburn, BB1 5AA

18:00 - 20:30

Choose Chorley for Business - Talent Reimagined Business Breakfast
talentreimaginedbb.png.png
LBV Hub Seminars
10 Jul 2025 - 10 Jul 2025

Choose Chorley for Business - Talent Reimagined Business Breakfast

Strawberry Fields Digital Hub, Chorley, PR71PS

08:00 - 10:30

Shaping Preston's future by remembering its past
1750160034867.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
16 Jul 2025 - 16 Jul 2025

Shaping Preston's future by remembering its past

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 20:30

Chamber Summer BBQ
LBV Hub Social
17 Jul 2025 - 17 Jul 2025

Chamber Summer BBQ

The Borough, Dalton Square, Lancaster, LA1 1PP

17:30 - 20:00

Preston Tech Connection: Web3 is Dead. Or is It?
July Longer Banner.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
29 Jul 2025 - 29 Jul 2025

Preston Tech Connection: Web3 is Dead. Or is It?

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 19:30

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: July
Longer July Banner.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
31 Jul 2025 - 31 Jul 2025

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: July

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

10:00 - 11:30

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV122 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin