Warm Vs. Cold Therapy in Patients With Sickle Cell Anemia

Pain is the main symptom of sickle cell anemia, and the need to alleviate it might drive some sickle cell anemia sufferers to abuse pain medications. But other pain treatment options are available for those who desire to refrain from strong and addictive pain medicines. These include warm and cold therapies.

Sickle Cell Anemia

• Bodies and blood don't get enough oxygen in sickle cell anemia.

  Anemia is a condition in which healthy red blood cells are so small in number that the body is deprived of the oxygen needed to function well. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited condition in which the red blood cells might be present but they are not healthy and are not round, but sickle shaped.

  In addition to being sticky and rigid, the cells' irregular shape prevents them from moving easily through blood vessels, causing them to get lodged in the vessel and block or slow down the movement of oxygen and/or blood throughout the body, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Treatment

• Bone marrow transplant is the only possible cure.

  Getting a bone marrow transplant is as close to a possible cure for sickle cell anemia as exists, but it is not without complications: finding a donor and the possibility of death. Therefore, many people rely on other treatment methods, such as medications, blood transfusions, oxygen supplementation, gene therapy, herbal treatment, nitric acid gas, butyric food additive acid and the antifungal medication Clotrimazole. In addition, heat is also used to help reduce symptoms.

Temperature and Sickle Cell Anemia

• Cold weather can bring on a crisis of pain.

  Extreme heat or cold can be problematic for those with sickle cell anemia. In fact, extreme cold can precipitate a crisis for those with this condition, according to StopPain.org. But even though extremes are to be avoided, both warmth and coolness can be used to help alleviate the symptoms experienced from sickle cell anemia.

Warm Therapy

• Therapy that includes warm treatments like massage can help.

  Pain is a recurring problem with sickle cell anemia, and pain medications are usually prescribed to help with it; however, according to the Mayo Clinic, warmth can be helpful when applied in the area that is hurting.

  Warmth can take the form of moist warm compresses, hot water bottles wrapped in a towel, heating pads, electric blankets, and massages on a heated massage table with warm oil. In addition, a physical therapist can use gentle exercises along with heat treatments to help with the pain of sickle cell anemia.

Cold Therapy

• Physical therapy includes gentle exercises and cold treatments.

  It is important to avoid cold weather and temperatures so as not to bring on a sickle cell crisis of pain, so any use of cold therapy should be initiated only at the prompting of your physician and done by a qualified therapist. Since the bones are generally where the pain is felt the most, according to StopPain.org, heat therapy applied to those areas seems to reduce pain more than cold.