Hot and Cold therapy is one of the most popular home remedies for any kind of joint pain or muscle sprain. In some cases applying heat therapy and cold therapy alternatively, can help relieve the pain while for others only one form of therapy is necessary. To understand what to use when, one should first understand the effect of heat and cooling on the body.

Applying a heat pack or immersing the affected limb in hot water improves blood circulation and makes the muscles more flexible. Thus, it can help relax a muscle and fasten the healing of damaged tissues. On the other hand, cold therapy or cryotherapy reduces blood flow to the affected site. This helps relieve inflammation and pain caused by it. It can also make the area feel numb by reducing nerve activity temporarily.

Types of Heat Therapy
Heat therapy can be categorized as dry heat and moist heat. Dry heat involves using saunas or dry heating packs to relieve pain. This is also known as conducted heat therapy. As the name suggests, moist heat involves the use of steamed towels, hot baths and moist heating packs. This is also known as convection heat therapy. Moist heat is usually considered more effective than dry heat.

Types of Cold Therapy
Cold therapy may be applied to a part of the body or to the entire body. This includes ice packs, coolant sprays, ice baths, ice massages and whole body, cold therapy chambers.

How to use heat and cold therapy?
The sooner heat and cold therapy is given to a person, the faster they will recover from their pains. Heat therapy can be given to a person for extended periods of time but when giving cold therapy, a person should not be exposed to a cold pack or ice bath for more than 10-15 minutes. Care should also be taken no to apply ice or a frozen pack directly on the skin as it can damage the skin and nerves.

When not to use Heat Therapy?
If the injury site is swollen or bruised, cold therapy is better than heat therapy. Heat therapy should also not be applied to an open wound. People suffering from conditions such as diabetes, dermatitis, deep vein thrombosis, vascular diseases and multiple sclerosis should also avoid heat therapy as these conditions can increase the risk of burns and other such complications. Pregnant women should also consult a doctor before using a hot tub or sauna.

When not to use Cold Therapy?
Cold therapy is avoidable for treating stiff joints and muscles. People suffering from poor circulation and sensory disorders should also avoid using cold therapy without a doctor s supervision. 

Hot & Cold Therapy - How It Can Treat Pain?

Stress is sometimes good for you. When you stretch yourself beyond your capacity, your body accepts challenge and increase the capacity to cope up with challenge. To a certain extent, it is good for body. But when the stress crosses the limits, it starts hurting you. That's the bad stress for you. Moderate stress for too long a time also is bad for you. Most of the hormonal diseases like diabetes, thyroid etc. Occur because of long standing underlying moderate stress. 

Stress can be physical or mental. Physical stress is due to long and continuous physical activities like walking, jogging, travelling, cycling. Mental stress is mainly because of financial tension or relationship distress. Both types of stress cause similar damages to body. Stress is the main underlying cause behind diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, thyroid, diabetes, kidney disease, peptic ulcer, bleeding disorders, cancer, recurrent infections etc. 

Finding out the reason of stress and removal of cause of stress should be the main line of treatment of such diseases.

Stress - Good and Bad

Runner s knee is a very common problem with athletes. It is definitely not something one needs to worry about. In fact, with certain exercises, it can be prevented and if you do develop a runner s knee, it can be treated with some exercises as well. There are special sports medical practitioners who prescribe not only regular physiotherapy, but also specific exercises to deal with specific sports injuries. To fight with runner s knee pain, there are a few exercises. 

But the four most important ones are described in detail below.

Quads: For performing proper quads, all you need is a back wall for additional support. You need to hold yourself against the wall and keep your legs apart from each other. The legs should be folded in the knees. In this position, you have to move up till the knee position with a minimum of one minute hold time in the knee position. You can repeat this exercise 10 times at a stretch before moving on to the next exercise.
Hamstring: This is a fairly easier exercise than the previous one. You have to stand straight with your legs apart. Bend downwards from your hips. Relax your neck and back. Ease your head downwards as well. Keep your hands behind. Join both your hands and give it a stretch. If you think that this position is straining your neck or back a little too much, then you can simply stretch your hands without joining them.
Calves: Calves is a standard exercise that is prescribed by medical practitioners and physiotherapists for easing out the pain caused by runner s knee. You have to stand with your hand against the wall. Put your left leg forward and bend it at the knees. Stand on your right heel. Hold yourself in this position for 20 to 30 seconds before changing the legs and doing the same.
Lateral: Lateral is also one of the easiest and common forms of exercises. You have to stand with your legs directly below your hips. Then stretch your right leg apart. Without bending your knees, try to touch the toes of your right leg with the fingers of your left hand. Hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds before changing the position and performing the lateral with your left leg.
Thus, these are some of the very fundamental exercises that one should follow in order to get quick relief from the pains of a runner s knee. These exercises are very easy and help in reducing pain.

Runner's Knee - 4 Most Important Exercises for it

Taking into account the hectic lifestyle we lead, most of us end up suffering from aches and pains. But that does not mean we have to continue to suffer from them. There are plenty of easy exercises that one can follow in order to keep themselves healthy and problem free!

In order to avoid aches and pains, the first thing that a person needs to do is 

Practice hamstring stretches regularly: What this entails is that he or she needs to lie on the back, raise a leg and hold the back of it with both hands. While it may be called the hamstring stretch and one would probably normally think that the beneficial impact of doing it would be limited to the hamstring, it works quite a bit of special magic which has an ability to ease the pain in the lower back. Now, for an exercise which is so simple, is it not worth it?
Side Stretch: Talking about stretches, another form of a stretch happens to be the side stretch. Even this is rather simple and all that needs to be done is to lie on one s side and pull the ankle of the leg which is not in contact with the ground towards the back. While this is being done, the ankle of the lower leg should apply pressure on the thigh.
Straight leg raise: It may seem that most of the exercises which reduce pain are stretches! However, this is not really the case as there is a place for exercises such as the straight leg raise and the like. What exactly is the straight leg raise? Well, it can be done when a person is either in a sitting position or is lying on his or her back. The toes are to be kept pointed upwards and the leg is to be raised. It is to be kept in mind that the challenge of the straight leg raise is that the knee should not be bent, at all.
The cat and camel exercise: The terms cat and camel generally refer to members of the animal kingdom. However, jointly, in terms of exercises, the cat and camel is an exercise well worth remembering as it can save the individual quite a lot of pain. All that needs to be done is to alternatively arch one s back towards the floor and the ceiling while resting on one s hands and knees.
While our way of living may come with certain side-effects ,but it would not be right to say that we are helpless. We need to take charge and make little changes to enjoy a healthy and happy lifestyle.

4 Easy Exercises for Aches And Pains

Care for shoulder pain and related problems

Shoulder problems usually happen because of internal problems or external trauma. People who are into any form of manual labour, pick up a lot of heavy things regularly or play sports experience shoulder pain at some point of time or other. Shoulder pain can be detected by physical examination, mri, x-ray, ultrasound and medical history.

The most common types of shoulder problems are arthritis, fracture, dislocation, frozen shoulder, rotator cuff tear, and rotator cuff disease. Cures for the different shoulder pains are different. Follow these simple ways to help you manage the pain.

1. Rest the hurtful shoulder: you need to take ample rest. Using the arm which is affected is not a good idea and needs to be avoided. If your job involves manual labour, it is advised that you stay at home to rest.

2. Ice pack healing: applying ice pack on the wound is also advised around 3-4 times in a day. This varies as per the kind of shoulder pain, so doctor's advice must be followed.

3. Be consistent with exercise: depending upon the source of pain, physiotherapist will advise certain sets of shoulder exercises. It is very important that they should be performed diligently for fast recovery.

4. Support it well: wearing a sling is extremely important and should not be taken lightly at any point of time. A good support will ensure there is no mislocation and faster recovery.

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Shoulder Pain Care - 4 things you must not ignore!

A sprain refers to a break or a tear in any of the ligaments of your body. A ligament is a band consisting of tissues that connect the bones at any given joint in our body.

A strain on the other hand refers to a tear or a break in the entire muscle itself or a tendon (the band of tissues that connect the muscle to the bones).

Occurrence
Sprains usually take place due to unforeseen incidents like falls, accidents, and such other things that forces the body part to go out of its normal position. The most common types of sprains that people suffer from are ankle sprains which affect about 25,000 people every day on a worldwide basis.

Strains usually happen when you twist a whole muscle or a tendon. This condition most commonly occurs in cases of sportspersons who are engaged in contact sports like hockey, football, rugby, and such others.

Symptoms
The identification signs of sprains and strains are mostly very similar, which are listed below:
1. Pain and discomfort in the joints
2. Visible swelling or inflammation seen on the joints
3. Bruising of the affected area
4. Tenderness and softness of the affected joint

The overall intensity of the above mentioned symptoms might differ basis on the severity of the condition that is directly proportional to the nature of injury that you have faced. Some pains are so light that it may not affect your daily routine at all, whereas some pains are so intense, that you might not be able to move your affected joint at all.

Treatment
Some of the common methods to cure a sprain or a strain are listed below:
1. Rest the area which is affected
2. Apply ice bags or cold compress to soothe the pain
3. Compress the affected joint using a compression tape
4. Place the affected joint on an elevated area to speed up the healing process

Sprain Versus Strain

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