Do You Apply Heat or Ice to Your Aches and Pains?

Transitional weather is never nice for chronic pain. Falling barometric pressure, lower temperatures and increased precipitation can trigger headaches and arthritis flare-ups for some people. So do you apply heat or ice to soothe your pains? Well, it depends on the type of pain you have.

• Arthritis: heat will relax tight muscles and chronically stiff joints.
• Headaches: Ice will numb throbbing head pains, but heat will relax the painful neck spasms.
• Strains: Ice eases the inflammation (redness, tenderness, etc.) as well as it numbs the pain. Heat will then help with the stiffness after the inflammation subsides.
• Sprains: Ice will numb the pain and help with the inflammation. Heat will help afterwards to relieve the stiffness.
• Gout Flare-ups: Ice will numb the pain and calm the flare-ups.
• Tendinitis: To numb the pain and ease the inflammation, apply ice.
• Tendinosis: Heat will relieve the stiffness.

It is always tough knowing what to do to get rid of any pain that you might have. Once you realize what is causing the pain, hopefully you can resolve it.

(via Mental Floss)