If you have back pain from muscle soreness or a strain, cold therapy can help during the first 2 days. But cold can slow down recovery over the long term. Switch to heat after the first couple of days of back pain. Gentle heat can help with pain and movement.
Heat assists with circulation and can even make it easier for the body to process incoming nutrients to promote healing. Because heat promotes blood flow, it can reduce stiffness and muscle spams, which are often caused by injury or overuse.
After an acute injury, ice should be used to minimize swelling for the first two to three days. After this period, heat can be used to increase blood flow and assist the natural healing process. Applying heat too early may cause additional swelling by increasing blood flow to the injury.
"Not surprisingly, the pressure is lowest when you're lying down." But there is more pressure on the discs when you're sitting than when you're standing. "In fact, if I come into the exam room and a patient is standing, rather than sitting, my suspicion that the person has a disc herniation goes up a lot," he says.
Do not do activities that involve heavy lifting or twisting of your back for the first 6 weeks after the pain begins. Do not exercise in the days right after the pain begins. After 2 to 3 weeks, slowly begin to exercise again. A physical therapist can teach you which exercises are right for you.
Sleeping on Your Back
By lying flat on your back, the spine is naturally aligned, reducing stress on the back muscles and discs. This neutral position helps distribute body weight evenly and maintain proper alignment of the spine, preventing any specific area from bearing excessive pressure.
Gentle stretching to the area can be beneficial, but the key is to keep it gentle. Avoid any prolonged sitting, bending, heavy lifting, twisting, or driving - all of which can make the pain worse. Giving the area of pain a rest, at least for the next 24 hours, will most likely be beneficial.
The changes in heart rate during and after therapy may pose significant risks for people with cardiovascular conditions such as arrhythmia. Increased swelling and inflammation. Heat therapy is not recommended immediately after physical activity, after injury, or during an infection.
Rest, ice, compression and elevation can help relieve pain and inflammation during the first few days of your recovery. After the first few days, you can start moving it again. Crutches. If your injury is in your lower body, you might need to use crutches to keep weight off the muscle when you walk.
In general, heat therapy can be applied for 15-20 minutes at a time. It is essential to allow the skin to cool down between heat therapy sessions. You can repeat heat therapy several times a day, with breaks of at least one hour in between applications.
Don't keep the cold wrap on the painful area for more than 20 minutes at a time. Heat helps reduce pain by relaxing and loosening tense muscles, and it promotes blood and nutrients to speed healing. Use a heating pad or a moist towel warmed in the microwave and apply it to the painful area.
Signs of pulled back muscle are that the pain is usually dull and aching. You'll find it feels like it is in the back and often gets work if you don't rest that area. With a slipped disc, the pain is much sharper. It can even feel like it's radiating through the back, into the shoulders or surrounding areas.
Gentle massaging the area can help just ease those muscles. Swelling: If your back pain comes from a direct injury, you could see swelling and puffiness in that area. If you gently touch your back, you can feel the tenderness.
Acute low back pain: Choose ice first, then heat.
Ice can also reduce muscle spasms. Inflammation only occurs for a short time after the event that caused the back pain, and ice is most useful during that initial inflammatory period. After the initial inflammatory phase is over, heat is the better option.
It's best to start with cold therapy if you've pulled a muscle doing yardwork or sprained your ankle playing basketball. As mentioned, this will work to limit inflammation and numb the pain. Once you get the inflammation managed, switching to heat can address any muscle stiffness that sets in at the injury site.
When addressing chronic back pain – back pain that lasts more than a 4-week duration, you want to use heat therapy that provides constant warmth to the injured area. Examples of this include using a heating pad or a heating adhesive wrap that lays over the area, providing several hours of low-level heat therapy.
Inflammation is the main source of pain the first few days after an injury. The faster you can apply cold to a pulled back muscle, the faster you may start to ease pain, control swelling, and start healing. Apply a cold pack for 15–20 minutes as soon as the injury occurs.
If you have back pain, bed rest can be useful, especially if you are in severe pain while sitting and standing. But it's best to limit bed rest during the day to a few hours at a time, for no more than a couple of days. That's because too much time in bed can do more harm than good.