What to use on sore muscles; heat, ice or both?

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​What to do when you hurt...This is a problem I hear from clients all the time and a lot of the information is confusing or not good.  Depending on how the pain started will determine what is the best choice, but let's review a few basics:

Ice - stops swelling, inflammation and bruising.  It is the best choice to use if you have acute pain or have been injured; sprained ankle, bumped your shin, twisted your knee or wrist.  Think INJURY when it comes to ice.

Heat - relaxes muscles after inflammation is gone, soothes the body and increases circulation.  This is the best choice if you have done too much weeding and strained your back, have an "achy" place.

Moist Heat - this reduces swelling, pain, and increases range of motion.   This is an excellent choice for arthritis flare ups or after using ice for a couple of days an injury and to help get circulation going into the area.

I could go on and on, but I usually find someone smarter than me and I found this excellent link that is very informative about what to use and when...just click on it to check it out!  Great and easy to read chart.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2014/08/should-you-use-ice-or-heat-for-pain-infographic/

In the case of muscle spasm, I now have Electrical Muscle Stimulation available prior to your massage.  Yesterday I used it on a client with severe back pain and she left feeling much better and reported improvement today too. ( I love what I do! )

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