Therapeutic Exercise, Heat Therapy, Cold Therapy of Pain
Therapeutic Exercise
Exercising is important because it can:
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Strengthen weak muscles |
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Mobilize stiff joints |
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Help restore coordination and balance |
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Promote a sense of well-being |
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Decrease anxiety and stress |
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Keep the heart healthy |
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Help maintain an appropriate weight |
A physical therapist, exercise physiologist or certified athletic trainer can help patients get started safely and learn exercises designed specifically to target problem areas. Even bedridden patients can benefit from range-of-motion exercises.
Heat Therapy
Heat therapy can reduce pain, especially the pain of muscle tension or spasm. Sometimes patients with other types of pain benefit.
Heat therapy acts to:
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Increase the blood flow to the skin |
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Dilate blood vessels, increasing oxygen and nutrient delivery to local tissues |
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Decrease joint stiffness by increasing muscle elasticity |
Heat should be applied for 20 minutes. Patients can use hot packs, hot water bottles, hot and moist compresses, electric heating pads, or chemical and gel packs carefully wrapped to avoid burns. Patients can also submerge themselves or the painful part in warm water.
Heat therapy is not recommended on tissue that has received radiation treatment. Pregnant women should avoid using hot tubs or any method that subjects the developing baby to prolonged heat.
Deep heat delivered to underlying tissue by short wave diathermy, microwave diathermy or ultrasound is also sometimes used to relieve pain. Deep heat should be used with caution by patients with active cancer and should not be applied directly over a cancer site.
Cold Therapy
Cold therapy, which constricts blood vessels near the skin, sometimes can relieve the pain of muscle tension or spasm. Other types of pain also benefit in some cases. It can also reduce swelling if applied soon after an injury.
Ice packs, towels soaked in ice water or commercially-prepared chemical gel packs should be applied for 15 minutes. Cold sources should be sealed to prevent dripping, flexible to conform to the body, and adequately wrapped to prevent irritation or damage to the skin.
Tags: Cold Therapy, Heat Therapy, Pain, Therapeutic Exercise