Cold compresses are best used for acute joint injuries as they reduce swelling and pain. Cold compresses will also help reduce inflammation locally or lower a fever. Treatment with cold (cryotherapy) was known in antiquity. Hippocrates discovered that cooling the body had analgesic properties, and recommended hypothermia to reduce swelling, bleeding and relieve pain. Find out how to apply cold compresses and where to buy cooling gel compresses.
Contents:
- Cold compresses - how they work
- Cold compresses - when to use?
- Cold compresses - how to make?
Cold compresseshave been relieving pain for centuries. Modern research on the use of cold in medicine was initiated in the 1950s by the Japanese. The amazing results of cold air therapy were presented in 1979 at the 9th European Congress of Rheumatology in Wiesbaden by its discoverer Dr. Toshiro Yamauchi. In Europe, this method was promoted by a German, prof. Reinhardt Fricke.
Treatment with cold is nothing more than the well-known cryotherapy, which can take various forms - from applying cold compresses, through blowing the body with cold air, to staying in a cryo-chamber. The essence of treatment with cold is to induce defensive reflexes consistent with nature when the body is exposed to extremely low temperatures.
Cold compresses - how they work
Under the influence of low temperature, the human body begins to produce antibodies that effectively fight various infections and inflammations. And it's not just about those that we associate with a runny nose or sore throat. It is mainly about those that run inside our joints, muscles and internal organs.
Nature has equipped us with nearly 250 thousand. points sensitive to cold and in about 300 thousand. reacting to heat. This is called body temperature thermoregulation receptors. Those that pick up the "cold" signal react to changes in ambient temperature three times faster than those that tell the body's nervous system that it is warm.
In order for the system that protects us from cooling down the body to start working, it is enough for us to stay for 2 minutes at a temperature of about 3 degrees C. What happens then? Notified by the brain's nervous system, it orders the entire body to beginthe production of substances accelerating the metabolism.
Thanks to this, our body produces more energy, and therefore heat. This allows the most important internal organs, i.e. the heart, kidneys, liver and lungs to maintain a constant temperature. Specialists call this process physiological thermoregulation.
Regardless of whether the entire body is cooling down or a selected place on the body, similar reactions occur in the cooled areas.
Lowering the body temperature below the so-called thermal comfort zone, i.e. the feeling of cold, causes strong reactions on the part of the body. Initially, blood vessels in the skin and subcutaneous tissue narrow as a result of heat loss.
The contraction of blood vessels in the skin and subcutaneous tissue causes blood to travel (as if escaping from the cold) to deeper tissues, increasing blood flow through large arteries and veins. The skin then turns pale, sometimes it becomes covered with the so-called goose bumps.
All this, however, is very short-lived, as the brain activates the body's thermoregulatory mechanisms. Thanks to them, the blood vessels dilate, the pallor disappears and the skin regains its pink color. The tissues are hyperemic, which means they are better oxygenated and nourished. Blood flows faster now.
Another cold mechanism is tremor, which is involuntary tiny muscle contractions. It speeds up the metabolism.
Cold compresses - when to use?
Cold therapy is the best solution for acute injuries as it reduces swelling and pain. The ice constricts the vessels, which reduces internal bleeding at the site.
The main action of cryotherapy is to induce analgesia by reducing the speed of conduction in the sensory and motor nerves, as well as reducing the rate of excitation of the muscle spindles.
Cold compresses reduce stretching reflexes, and also contribute to the reduction of acetylcholine levels, and thus reduce pain.
The cold compress should not stick directly to the skin. It's best to wrap it in a piece of cloth and put it against your body. Cooling should not take more than 15 minutes. In the event of a severe injury, the sore spot can be cooled down 3-4 times a day.
In the case of muscle or joint pain after overloading them (intense training, hard work), you can also use cold compresses. They are also recommended for people who suffer from chronic pain, e.g. due to degenerative changes.
Cold compresses can also be used after insect bites. The cold prevents the venom from spreading through the body. It's also worth itRemember and trim that cold compresses effectively remove swelling.
If we have suffered burns, we do not use a cold compress (ice), but only a cold compress, so as not to give the body another shock.
Cold compresses are also used to save beauty. You can eliminate the so-called bags under the eyes or to ease facial puffiness after a bad night's sleep.
Cold compresses - how to make?
It all depends on our ingenuity. You can buy gel compresses in pharmacies and large drugstores. They are stored in the refrigerator or freezer and used when needed. These compresses are not the cheapest, but they can be used many times.
A cold compress can also be made of gauze, in which we wrap ice cubes. Sometimes it is enough to pour cold water into a hot water bottle or a flat bottle. As a last resort, you can also reach for frozen carrots or peas.
Cold compresses should also be used on hot days. If we put a cold compress on the neck, we will deceive the temperature center there and it will be easier for us to survive.
Cool compresses also help with migraine headaches.
We save ourselves with cold after injuries and acute inflammation, with sprains, fractures, after sticking a tumor or knocking out a finger, as well as after extracting a tooth.
We also use compresses made of chilled water after sports injuries.
It is important to remember that cold compresses (especially those made of ice) should not be put on places that have once been frostbitten.
But be careful, we don't treat cold-frosted places that have once been frostbitten.
- If we break a hand that was frostbitten ten years ago, we do not put ice on it. After frostbite, we may be locally allergic to cold and the body will react badly to it - warns the physiotherapist.
- First pour cold, then cool, lukewarm water over the "freshly" frostbitten place, and then finally with warm water - but never hot. If our body has been injured by high temperature, we will not give it a reverse thermal shock in a moment. Therefore, for burns, we use cool compresses, but not ice, because our skin will become the same as with a tomato put in boiling water and chilled with cold water.
What if something hurts you and you can't apply a compress at work? Make a compress before going out, then apply some cooling ointment.
- Warm compresses for the sinuses, spine, abdomen and more
- Occlusive dressing - what is it and when to use it?
- Wound dressings - types
Anna Jarosz A journalist who has been involved in popularizing education for over 40 yearshe alth. Winner of many competitions for journalists dealing with medicine and he alth. She received, among others The "Golden OTIS" Trust Award in the "Media and He alth" category, St. Kamil awarded on the occasion of the World Day of the Sick, twice the "Crystal Pen" in the national competition for journalists promoting he alth, and many awards and distinctions in competitions for the "Medical Journalist of the Year" organized by the Polish Association of Journalists for He alth.
Read more articles by this author