Cold Therapy

Using ice to treat injuries is a history old method that is used until this day by amateurs and professionals alike. It has been proven as a method of effectively reliving and reducing pain, inflammation, swelling and muscle spasms, providing an alternative self-care technique that many have adapted at home and work. It is also known by professionals at Watkins Health as cryotherapy, working under the principles of heat exchange as its basic function. With direct contact to a warmer temperature skin surface, ice agents are used by people and massage therapists to absorb the heat generated by the afflicted area, resulting in improvement in the injury, reduction of swelling and at times completely removing the affliction.

With any stressful affliction to the human body, heat is generated as a result of kinetic energy reacting between muscles, nerves, joints and different body parts. With excessive stress, sprains, accidents, and major physical trauma, this heat causes swelling, inflammation and severe pain in some cases. Watkins Health uses cold therapy massage treatments to reduce the afflictions of such pain with the application of methods that use heat transfer to reduce such side effects, and eventually eliminate them completely. With the development of so many home remedies, some people choose to go with personal application rather than seeking professional help. Although this may be acceptable in most situations, many other cases need professional help.

In seeking a massage therapist about cold therapy treatments and applications, you may be opening the door to many other options to cure different afflictions. Cold therapy is not always the answer to everything that a person may experience, and Watkins Health can help you determine the proper course of action and treatments through consultations with one of our professionals. Sometimes, a combination of strengthening exercises, stretching and cold therapies may need to be used in order to maximize results and recovery. Receiving free advice is a simple decision to make, and with a certified doctor by your side, you can be sure that applying this type of physical therapy will yield the best and safest results. Another technique used in cold therapy is cryostretching, a technique where muscle spasms are reduced in order to increase muscle flexibility. It uses a pre-determined process by which the body temperature is cooled and the muscles are stretched through various sequences of exercises. Whether this or any other type of cold therapy massage treatment, Watkins Health uses these methods to improve muscle flexibility, muscle mobility and reduce the potential for further injury.