Cold Therapy in New Jersey

Your back pain shouldn’t control your life – and finding the right cold therapy in New Jersey can help you get your life back. If you’ve been battling with back pain and you’re about to pull the trigger on an invasive, expensive, and potentially risky procedure, you should always take time to consider your alternatives. Read on to learn more about heat and cold therapy, and see how the professionals at Northeast Spine & Wellness Center can help you finally manage your pain.

About Heat and Cold Therapy

Heat and cold therapy are both useful tools for pain management, and while it may sound intense or expensive, chances are you’ve already resorted to cold or heat therapy without even knowing it. Each heat or cold therapy technique can yield real results, and all you have to do is learn more about your options in order to save yourself the trouble of a complicated surgical procedure.

What is Heat Therapy?

If you’re trying to improve circulation to a painful area, heat therapy is the way to go. Heat therapy increases temperature, which in turn improves circulation. And while you might be expecting heat therapy to include some truly astronomical temperatures, that’s far from the case. In actuality, heat therapy focuses on warmth, rather than heat.

Some popular examples of heat therapy are perfectly doable in your own home. This includes hot towels or hot water bottles, but if you’re willing to go the extra mile for some quality heat therapy you can also try out a sauna. If you’re looking for a more high tech approach to heat therapy, ultrasound is a popular technique to ease certain sources of pain like tendonitis. Heat therapy is a versatile tool for pain management, but it’s best for certain applications. Fortunately, cold therapy can handle the other side of the spectrum.

What is Cold Therapy?

Heat therapy increases temperature to improve blood flow, so it’s only natural that cold therapy does the exact opposite. While better blood flow sounds like something you’ll always want, that’s not always the case. If you’re experiencing swelling or inflammation, cold therapy will help – and just like heat therapy, you might have used cold therapy without even knowing it.

If you’ve ever held a bag of frozen peas to a lump on your head to control the swelling, you’ve used cold therapy to manage your pain. It’s a low-tech approach, but cold therapy is doable in your own home, just like heat therapy. Other types of cold therapy can range from cold gel packs to coolant sprays, but more intense techniques include ice baths and walk-in cryo chambers.

Targeted Techniques

While most forms of heat and cold therapy affect a large area of your body – or your entire body, for that matter – there are some approaches that are much more localized. When you reach out to Northeast Spine & Wellness Center for cold therapy in New Jersey, you can get targeted cold therapy through TruCryo.

TruCryo is an innovative cold therapy technique that applies cold therapy to specific areas. As an added bonus, TruCryo also provides much deeper penetration and much lower temperatures, all without the inconvenience of a cryo chamber or ice bath. If you’re trying to manage your back pain, TruCryo can help, and the professionals at Northeast Spine & Wellness Center are standing by to assist you.

Don’t suffer from back pain. Get in touch with Northeast Spine & Wellness Center, and see how cold therapy in New Jersey can help you get your life back.

Common Myths About Cold Therapy

Cold therapy has been around for quite a while now and has helped treat a number of different conditions, including muscle pain and inflammation. However, it is still widely misunderstood. These misunderstandings may stop some people from undergoing cold therapy. Here are the most common myths about cold therapy.

• Cold therapy is just for professional athletes. It is true that many professional athletes use cold therapy to reduce inflammation and ease sore muscles. However, that does not mean that non-athletes can’t benefit from cold therapy. Even if you don’t play sports, you can use cold therapy to alleviate pain and help you feel better.

• Cold therapy is painful. Some people may shy away from cold therapy because they assume it will hurt. After all, you are exposing your body to extremely cold temperatures. However, the sessions are short and the cold doesn’t penetrate too deeply into your skin. Although you might feel a bit of a shock at first, it should not be painful.

• Cold therapy should only be used after a workout. People can benefit from cryotherapy both before and after a workout. Undergoing cold therapy after a workout may help you settle down. Doing cold therapy before a workout, on the other hand, may increase your energy for your exercise routine.

• You only have to do cold therapy once. It is possible to notice results after just one cold therapy session. However, in order to get the most out of cold therapy, it may be necessary to undergo at least a few sessions.

• Cold therapy is not safe. Although cold therapy lowers your skin temperature, it is not considered an unsafe treatment. As mentioned above, cold therapy does not penetrate very deeply into your skin. Therefore, you do not have to worry about hypothermia or frostbite. In fact, it can actually help you experience more health benefits.

• Cold therapy is not proven to work. This is not true. There are actually several studies that have discovered cold therapy is effective. The proven benefits of cold therapy are reduced muscle soreness, decreased inflammation and better workout recovery.

• Cold therapy is only useful for injuries. Many people assume that cold therapy just treats injuries. It does that and so much more. Cold therapy, for example, can reduce skin redness and under-eye puffiness.

Cold Therapy Benefits

Relief from Isolated and Chronic Pain

For those who are seeking non drug relief for pain and chronic pain may find cold therapy appealing. There are several ways that our bodies react to cold temperatures that can impact the amount of pain we are perceiving on a temporary and lasting basis. Cold therapy techniques can have a temporary numbing effect that some may find therapeutic for their chronic pain. Some of the most commonly observed ways that cold may relieve pain in the body are:

• Decrease in activity in nerve fibers in the area where pain is sensed.
• Overall reduction of activity in nerve endings near the pain area.
• Regular cold therapy can increase the pain threshold.
• Cold therapy can induce a release of endorphins, naturally occurring brain chemicals that make us feel good.
• Cold can effectively bypass sensations of pain.

Reduction of Swelling

Swelling causes pressure on blood vessels and nerves resulting in sometimes painful sensations. Cold therapy has been known to induce a bodily mechanism called vasoconstriction. Vasoconstriction refers to the constriction of blood vessels, resulting in a reduction of blood that can reach a swollen area, and a likely reduction in swelling.

Vasodilation 

In the time following a cold therapy session the blood vessels begin dilation, allowing more blood flow to the affected area. Those who receive cold therapy may benefit from regained mobility and a net-reduction in pain levels, this is why those with swelling caused by an injury or surgery benefit from cold therapy treatments. 

Pain Caused by Inflammatory Response

Tissues in the body may react to injury or surgery by swelling. Swelling of skin and muscle tissues can be painful and result in a loss of mobility caused by an overall increase in pressure in the affected area. Sometimes when tissues are compromised the body decides that it must swell, certain chemicals are released that increase our perceived levels of pain. Through the vasoconstrictive effects of cold therapy, one can experience a decrease in pain levels.

Muscle Spasms

Those who are experiencing muscle spasms may benefit from cold therapy. The body sometimes responds to pain by involuntarily contracting and expanding to help protect further damage, known as a muscle spasm. Cold temperature applied directly to the area or across the entire body can relax muscles and induce a perceived reduction in pain.

Metabolism

On a cellular level, a reduction in the rate of metabolism by means of cold therapy can reduce a cell’s requirements for oxygen. Cold therapy patients may benefit from metabolic regulation and other wellness oriented benefits.

Post-surgery recovery

Surgery may induce a swelling response in the body. Doctors recommend cold therapy as a technique to aid in rehabilitation following surgery. Through a reduction of pain and swelling, patients may benefit from improvements in mentality, mobility, and physical appearance of the affected area. Furthermore, regular cold therapy sessions can help those who have had surgery to regain normal functionality and contribute to a more efficient recovery period.