As a physical therapist I educate my patients on how to manage pain effectively at home. Most people choose hot packs for pain relief because it feels good on the skin. Hot pack may cause more harm than good. Heat may increase blood flow initially, increases swelling to the area, compress blood vessels. Increased compression restricts blood flow causing delay in the healing process. Ice pack is the best natural side effect free temporary anesthetic.

Basic screening of pain at home:

Minimal Pain:

If pain started following an incident like sprain/falls/ minor sports injuries or some time you woke up with pain commonly neck/back pain Ice is the best way to go due to natural anesthetic effect.

If the pain is chronic in nature commonly neck or back pain or joint pain from a previous injury keeps showing up once in a while can be treated well with either a hot/cold pack based on your comfort.

Moderate to severe pain:

I recommend going to urgent care/consult a doctor. while waiting for the necessary medical care nothing wrong with using an ice pack for pain management if there is no visible injury.

When To use Heat and When to use Ice?

Simple rule of thumb:

Use Hot Pack for Chronic pain (lasting for weeks/months/years) that has been mild to moderate

Use an Ice Pack for any acute/sudden increase in pain like sports injuries, sprains.

How to use it and how long to use?

Ice pack

• Wrap an ice pack ( frozen mixed vegetable/peas bag) in a thin cloth like a pillow case and place it directly on the painful area.
• If using ice pack on a joint like wrist/knee/ankle better to wrap the whole joint.
• Use a cold pack for 7 to 10 minutes at a time, several times a day, or when you first feel the pain starting. You should feel some relief within a few minutes.

Hot pack/Heating pads:

• microwavable hot packs can get hot real fast wrap them in a thick layer of cloth like a Turkish towel. Sometimes you may need to double layer it for safety.
• warm/comfortable heat can be used up to 30 min at a time multiple times a day but do check for skin damage during use.

Here is a link to a large Ice pack/Hot pack that can be used on multiple joings/parts of your body. click on the image below:

Hope this article helped you figure out how to manage minor pains at home. You are welcome to email any questions to [email protected]