You can have back pain from poor posture, pulled muscles or injury, arthritis, and more. Depending on your back pain’s cause, ice and heat therapy can be helpful treatments. Knowing when to use ice or heat is important for decreasing pain and improving quality of life.
Ice therapy involves cooling the painful area of your back. It’s helpful for acute (new or temporary) back pain. While it’s helpful in the short term, long-term use of ice therapy may delay healing and prolong recovery.
Ice therapy works by decreasing blood flow to the area of your back where you’ve applied it. A short-term decrease in blood flow can help reduce:
- Pain
- Muscle spasms
- Inflammation
When To Use Ice Therapy
Ice therapy may be most helpful if you use it at the onset of back pain, during the first few days after your pain or swelling develops. If you have a flare-up of inflammation and pain, ice is a good option to control pain and minimize swelling.
Benefits of Ice Therapy
Ice therapy lowers your skin’s temperature and decreases blood flow to decrease swelling and inflammation. Cold can also numb the sensation of pain and decrease muscle spasms by slowing nerve signals.
How To Use It Effectively
You can apply ice therapy in a variety of ways to ease your back pain, including:
- Cold pack: Fill a plastic bag with ice from your freezer, use a bag of frozen vegetables, or buy an ice pack at the store.
- Ice towel: Wet a towel with cold water and squeeze it until it’s just damp. Place your towel in a plastic bag in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
- Cold water immersion: Sit in a tub of cool or cold water so that your back is submerged.
Whatever form of ice therapy you choose, you can use it optimally for about 20 minutes at a time, a few times a day for the first few days of your back pain.
Heat therapy involves applying heat to the area of your back in pain. Heat raises the tissue temperature in your back, leading to:
- Less pain
- Decreased spasms or tightness
- Better flexibility
Heat therapy may speed up the overall healing process and be beneficial during all stages of healing, whether your back pain is new or ongoing.
When To Use Heat Therapy
Heat therapy works best for long-term back aches, tightness, and pain, as well as more chronic (long-term) forms of back pain. When your back pain is more than a couple of days old, or feels stiff or tight, heat is likely your best option to help loosen it up and improve pain and stiffness.
Benefits of Heat Therapy
Heat therapy increases tissue temperature and blood flow to your back, relaxing muscles and improving pain. It is beneficial for both acute and chronic (longer-lasting) back pain.
How To Use It Effectively
You can apply heat therapy in a variety of ways to manage back pain, including:
- Heating pad: Use an electric heating pad with a cloth cover. Avoid falling asleep while using it.
- Hot towel or compress: Wet a small towel, wring it out, and place it in a freezer-safe bag. Microwave your damp towel for about 30 seconds. A hot water bottle also works.
- Disposable heating patch: These single-use patches can be bought at the store and stick to the skin.
- Warm bath or shower: Showering or soaking in a tub of warm water can help soothe back pain.
Physical therapists and other clinicians may also offer heat therapy through paraffin wax, ultrasound, and laser therapy.
Heat therapy has the best results when you use it for about 15-20 minutes at a time, once or twice a day.
Combining ice and heat therapy is known as contrast therapy.
As a way to treat back pain, some people enjoy using cold therapy first to reduce swelling and numb the pain, followed by heat therapy to relax the muscles. Contrast therapy is most often done using an ice bath and a warm bath. Overall, research is limited on the benefits of combining ice and heat therapy as a way to decrease back pain.
If you try contrast therapy, space out your cold sessions and heat sessions. Don’t switch straight from one to the other.
It is important to talk to a trusted healthcare provider before adding any new form of treatment into your routine, especially if your back pain is new or you’ve never used ice or heat to manage it before.
Here are a few things to consider:
- Don’t put the ice or heat directly on your skin. Always use a towel or a cloth in between to prevent burns.
- Don’t use ice or heat for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. Avoid falling asleep while using either form of treatment.
- Stay active. It’s important to maintain your normal routine as best as you can. While you may need to rest during flare-ups, doing rehabilitation exercises that your healthcare provider recommends can support back pain relief.
- Don’t use ice or heat if you have limited sensation or broken skin. This can increase the risk of burns or further injury.
- Rule out any more serious conditions. Back pain can sometimes be a sign of a more serious condition. It is important to talk to your healthcare provider right away if your back pain begins out of nowhere or if you experience any numbness in your groin or legs, loss of bladder or bowel control, or pain that is getting worse.
- Stop if ice or heat makes your pain worse. If you notice your pain is worse or you lose feeling during or after using ice or heat therapy, speak to your trusted healthcare provider before continuing.
Ice and heat therapy are safe, effective, convenient, and cost-efficient ways to help relieve back pain. Ice therapy is often most beneficial for newly developed back pain, to reduce inflammation, swelling, and discomfort. Heat therapy is most beneficial for pain caused by tight or stiff muscles. Talk to your doctor if you have questions about easing your back pain.
