{"id":232107,"date":"2026-04-24T17:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/refonte.soluvie.ca\/?soluvie_english_translation=712"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:18:11","slug":"ice-or-heat-after-an-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soluvie.ca\/en\/2026\/04\/24\/ice-or-heat-after-an-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Ice or Heat After an Injury?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you have an injury, ice or heat can help support healing alongside pain medication. But which should you use, and when?<\/p>\n

Let us start with the normal healing process. After a new injury, the acute, or inflammatory, phase generally lasts from 24 hours to one week. At this stage, pain is more or less constant, including at rest, and may throb. Swelling and redness can also occur. For a recent injury, we use the<\/p>\n

PRICE protocol: Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation<\/strong>.<\/h4>\n
How to Apply Ice:<\/strong>\"\"<\/h5>\n

1 \u2013 Place a damp towel between the ice and your skin to prevent frostbite.<\/p>\n

2 \u2013 Apply ice for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, no longer.<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Visually check the area every five minutes. There may be some initial discomfort and redness, but you should feel less pain. Stop treatment if discomfort persists.<\/p>\n

4 \u2013 You can apply ice every two to three hours if inflammation continues.<\/p>\n

When Not to Use Ice:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2013 Impaired circulation<\/p>\n

\u2013 Loss of skin sensation<\/p>\n

\u2013 Raynaud’s disease<\/p>\n

\u2013 An open wound or infection<\/p>\n

\u2013 Hypersensitivity to cold<\/p>\n

\u2013 Acute dermatitis or eczema<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As inflammation settles, tissues enter the repair phase. Blood flow carries nutrients and oxygen to the injury site so the tissues can regenerate. Warm compresses help dilate blood vessels and increase blood flow, supporting the removal of dead cells and promoting healing. Dry heat products are available at pharmacies, including electric heating pads, Magic Bags and gel packs. In the clinic, we use moist clay hot packs. Moist heat penetrates more deeply to reach muscles, ligaments and joints. At home, wrap a damp towel around the hot pack, then cover it with a dry towel before applying it to your skin.<\/p>\n

How to Apply Heat:<\/strong>\"\"<\/h5>\n

1 \u2013 Apply heat for 15 to 20 minutes at a time.<\/p>\n

2 \u2013 Always wrap the hot pack in towels to prevent skin irritation or burns.<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Visually check your skin every five minutes. Stop if you notice unusual skin colour or discomfort.<\/p>\n

4 \u2013 Do not apply heat when going to sleep, as this increases the risk of burns.<\/p>\n

When Not to Use Heat:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2013 Reduced ability to sense heat<\/p>\n

\u2013 Impaired circulation<\/p>\n

\u2013 Inflammation or swelling<\/p>\n

\u2013 Open wounds, skin lesions or infections<\/p>\n

\u2013 An area affected by a tumour or cancer<\/p>\n

If you have pain after an injury, consult a physiotherapist to find out what is wrong and how to address it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Call us for a physiotherapy appointment or book online!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you have an injury, ice or heat can help support healing alongside pain medication. But which should you use, and when? Let us start with the normal healing process. After a new injury, the acute, or inflammatory, phase generally lasts from 24 hours to one week. At this stage, pain is more or less […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-treatments-techniques-and-tools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soluvie.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soluvie.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soluvie.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soluvie.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soluvie.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/soluvie.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soluvie.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soluvie.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soluvie.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}