Hot or Cold Therapy

Customers often ask us when they should use heat therapy and when they should use cold therapy. These guidelines will help you determine the appropriate uses for each:

*Remember, because some injuries can be serious, you should see your doctor if your injury doesn’t improve or if it gets worse after 48 hours.

Cold therapy with a frozen Caldera Gel Pack is the best immediate treatment for acute injuries because it reduces swelling and pain. Ice is a vaso-constrictor (it causes the blood vessels to narrow) and it limits internal bleeding at the injury site.

Cold therapy can also help treat some overuse injuries and chronic pain. Use your frozen Caldera Gel Pack to treat an inflamed area after exercise. It’s not helpful to ice a chronic injury before exercise.

For example, if you have chronic knee pain that gets worse after running, you may want to ice the injury after each run to reduce or prevent inflammation.

For more information about icing an injury, click here.

Heat is generally used for chronic injuries or injuries that have no inflammation or swelling. Heat therapy is ideal for soreness, stiffness, or nagging muscle or joint pain.

Use your heated Caldera Gel Pack before exercise to increase the elasticity of joint connective tissues and to stimulate blood flow. Heat can also help spasmed muscles.

Do not apply heat after exercise.

Because heat increases circulation and raises skin temperature, you shouldn’t apply heat to acute injuries or injuries that show signs of inflammation.

Learn how to properly use heat for chronic injuries, click here.