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Hot and Cold Treatments for Injuries

Minor injuries can be treated at home by using a cold pack or hot pack. You can purchase chemical packs for this purpose and keep them in your first aid kit ready to be used when an injury occurs. They can also be made at home. Before using those or a homemade pack, you should know if your injury should be treated with heat or cold.

  1. Cold Packs

    • Use a cold pack when you want to slow bleeding, reduce swelling and bring about pain relief through numbing. Use cold packs for sprained ankles, bruises, and inflammation like tendinitis. When one of these injuries occur the tissue surrounding the area is damaged and becomes inflamed. Applying cold helps numb the area which reduces pain. It also decreases blood flow which reduces swelling.
      Use a cold pack properly by applying it for a maximum of 15 minutes at a time. Let your skin warm back up for 15 minutes and then reapply the cold pack for another 15 minutes. It is important to take frequent breaks so your skin is not injured. If you leave an ice pack in place too long, the body begins to compensate by increasing blood flow through surrounding capillaries which is the opposite of what you want to achieve.

    Hot Packs

    • Use a hot pack when you want to increase the blood flow to an injury, reduce muscle spasms, or reduce joint stiffness. When muscles are over-worked they release lactic acid which accumulates because there is not enough blood flow to carry it away. Using heat on sore muscles increases blood flow to help eliminate the build up of lactic acid.

    Chemical Packs

    • Grab a chemical pack for quick relief. Chemical hot packs contain water and magnesium sulfate or calcium chloride. To activate the pack, knead it to mix the two solutions. A chemical reaction occurs which creates heat. A chemical hot pack reaches up to 90 degrees Celsius and lasts for about 20 minutes.
      Chemical cold packs have been designed for use in first aid kits. These are composed of two compartments; one contains water and the other contains ammonium nitrate. To activate the pack, break the seal between the chambers so the two solutions mix together. This creates a chemical reaction which absorbs heat and creates a cold pack in the range of 0 degrees Celsius.

    Homemade Packs

    • You can create a cold pack by placing ice cubes in a plastic bag and covering it with a towel. Do not apply ice directly to the skin as this might cause a frostbite injury.
      You can make your own hot pack by soaking a towel in very warm but not scalding water. Cover the affected area with the towel. Heating pads can also be used. Take caution when using hot packs or heating pads so your skin does not get burned.

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