Hot or Cold Therapy?

Hot & Cold therapy has been used for years as an effective natural pain relief, but have you ever wondered how it works, which one you should be using and when? I’ve never quite understood the difference so after a little research here is a quick guide!

Heat Therapy

Applying heat to a sore area will dilate blood vessels and promote blood flow, this helps sore and tightened muscles to relax and so is great for helping to relive pain from chronic muscle pain & sore joints.  

Heat therapy can also help to relieve stomach cramps, tension headaches, sinus congestion and joint stiffness – who knew!

Heat therapy can be applied in many ways, you can apply a dry heat compress to the affected area, use a hot water bottle or even take a hot bath.

Aroma Home’s body shoulder and back wraps are a great heat compress, simply pop them in the microwave and apply to the affected area, I tried this recently for a sore shoulder and can honestly say I was surprised at how effective it was!

Cold Therapy

Cold treatment works in the opposite way to heat therapy, it reduces blood flow to an injured area which slows the rate of inflammation and reduces the risk of swelling and tissue damage.

Cold treatment can also numb sore tissue and slow down pain messages being sent to the brain and so is great for immediate treatment on injuries - this should be used within 48hrs of injury.

Cold therapy can be applied in many ways but must only be applied in short bursts so up to 20 mins at a time, one of the most effective ways to apply cold therapy is via a cold compress applied directly onto the inflamed area.

Aroma Home’s range of Therapeutic Gel Beads products are great for cold therapy and are really soft and flexible for a great fit around the body, you can chill them in the fridge or freezer depending on your preferred temperature before applying to the affected area.

Aroma Home also do a specific cooling migraine wrap which helps reduce the pain of migraine headaches, as a migraine sufferer this sounds like heaven and is definitely on my list to try next!