What Is Causing My Leg Cramps During the Night?
Leg cramps can leave you restless throughout the night, making it difficult to get any restorative sleep. Here are some potential causes of leg cramps and one way to alleviate them.
Should You Use Ice or Heat To Heal Injuries? | Progressive Spine & Sports Care
Video Transcript | Should You Use Ice or Heat To Heal Injuries?
Dr. Who: For the weekend warriors, such as myself, who get knicked up during the weekend from doing team sports like hockey or spartan races – please put this controversy to bed once and for all: When do I use ice and when do I use heat?
Dr. Kevin McElroy: Another good question, one that I get a lot. There’s confusion among primary care doctors and internists about that as well. You want to think about ice after activity or heat after you’ve kind of been sedentary. So, if something happens, or if you do something – you’re out playing, you sprain your ankle or you get bruised, you want to use ice. The purpose of using ice is to reduce swelling and reduce blood flow. So after an injury or an aggravation, your body’s tendency is to increase blood flow and increase swelling. That’s counterproductive to you progressing whatever you’re doing. So, ice helps to reduce blood flow and reduce swelling. If you apply heat in that situation, you’re going to do the opposite: you’re going to increase blood flow and make your swelling worse.
So, the role for heat is someone with a chronic back injury or neck injury, who wakes up stiff in the morning, or is sitting at their desk all day and gets up and they feel tight & stiff, you put a heating pad and that will help increase and start to relax some of your muscles.
It’s important that either with ice or with heat – you don’t want to apply ice directly to your skin and that the heats not, obviously too hot, you can cause damage to your skin in either situation. And you want to make sure that if you have any sensory issues, like from diabetic neuropathy, to not apply either of those to anywhere you can’t feel. Although they’re safe and very effective they can cause some injuries to you as well.
PAIN MANAGEMENT IN BERGEN COUNTY
Progressive Spine & Sports Medicine provides pain management treatments for various conditions. At Progressive Spine & Sports Medicine in Ramsey, New Jersey, patients can avoid unnecessary tests and countless visits to specialists. Our Ramsey, New Jersey location can provide you with nonsurgical and non-invasive pain management treatments to get you back on your feet and feeling better in as little as one visit!
LEARN MORE ABOUT PAIN MANAGEMENT TREATMENTS IN RAMSEY, NJ
Want to learn more about NonSurgical Pain Management? Click here to learn about Progressive Spine & Sports Medicine and the conditions we treat
You Might Also Enjoy...
Treating Your Migraines With Botox® and How It Works
Even though it’s primarily known as a cosmetic now, Botox® was originally used to treat strabismus (more commonly known as lazy eye) and other conditions. Here’s how it’s used to help with migraines.
Why Radiofrequency Ablation Might Be the Answer to Eliminating Your Leg Cramps
Leg cramps can be a sign of circulatory issues caused by venous insufficiency. These types of conditions can serve as a serious threat to your health. Radiofrequency ablation can help.
How Acupuncture Can Treat Knee Pain
Knee pain can be notoriously difficult to treat, but for many, knee replacement isn’t a good option at the moment. Acupuncture could be the best way to relieve pain and restore mobility.
Does Sclerotherapy for Spider Veins Require Continued Treatments?
Spider veins can be removed using sclerotherapy. Will you have to go back for repeat treatments? That depends. Is your overall vein health already compromised, which caused the spider veins in the first place?
Heavy, Aching Legs: Are Varicose Veins the Culprit?
Do your legs feel heavy and achy nearly all the time? Have you noticed visible leg veins swelling, bulging, and darkening in color? The two could be connected. Read on to learn how varicose veins can affect more than just your legs.