Thermotherapy
and Martina Feichter, medical editor and biologistSabine Schrör is a freelance writer for the medical team. She studied business administration and public relations in Cologne. As a freelance editor, she has been at home in a wide variety of industries for more than 15 years. Health is one of her favorite subjects.
More about the expertsMartina Feichter studied biology with an elective subject pharmacy in Innsbruck and also immersed herself in the world of medicinal plants. From there it was not far to other medical topics that still captivate her to this day. She trained as a journalist at the Axel Springer Academy in Hamburg and has been working for since 2007 - first as an editor and since 2012 as a freelance writer.
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Thermotherapy is the umbrella term for heat and cold therapy.A heat treatment (e.g. with ultrasound or infrared light) relaxes muscles, increases blood flow and relieves pain. Cold therapy (cryotherapy) is used, for example, to briefly reduce blood flow and thus counteract swelling. Read everything you need to know about thermotherapy here - when it is indicated, how it works and what speaks against treatment with heat or cold.
What is thermotherapy?
Thermotherapy is a branch of physical therapy and thus physiotherapy. It includes all physical forms of treatment in which heat (heat therapy) or cold (cold therapy) is used in a targeted manner in order to alleviate physical and, in some cases, psychological complaints.
Both heat and cold applications affect muscle tension and blood flow and relieve pain. They are almost always prescribed in addition to support the effect of other forms of physiotherapy such as massages and physiotherapy.
Thermotherapy with heat: heat therapy
Warmth opens the vessels so that the blood can flow better through them - blood circulation is promoted, metabolic degradation products are removed more quickly and messenger substances of the immune system are increasingly circulated. Pain can also decrease as the nerve tracts are relieved. In addition, heat relaxes the muscles, makes the connective tissue more flexible and increases the fluidity (viscosity) of the synovial fluid.
When do you use heat therapy?
Areas of application for heat therapy are:
- general muscle tension
- incomplete paralysis with spasmodic muscle tension (spastic paresis), for example as a result of a stroke
- Wear-related (degenerative) diseases such as osteoarthritis, herniated discs, spinal canal stenosis
- chronic joint inflammation (as in rheumatism), but not in the acute stage!
- functional organ complaints such as abdominal pain with irritable bowel syndrome
For some illnesses, heat therapy is only advisable in certain situations:
For example, in the case of a herniated disc, heat can relax or relax the surrounding muscles and thus dampen the pain a little (e.g. hot water bottle, warmth patch, sauna, infrared radiation). If nerve irritation as a result of the incident, on the other hand, most patients find cold applications more pleasant (e.g. cold compresses).
Heat treatment for gout can be beneficial if a joint is not acutely inflamed and swollen. In this acute stage, cold applications make more sense - they counteract inflammatory processes and swelling. The same applies to the use of heat for osteoarthritis: cold for acutely inflamed joints, otherwise heat.
How is heat therapy used?
Heat therapy uses various "media" to apply the heat stimuli. Examples:
- Infrared: The infrared light generates heat on the part of the body treated with it.
- Ultrasound: The sound waves trigger vibration and heat effects in the treated area of the body. This promotes blood circulation, stimulates the metabolism and also warms deeper layers of tissue.
- Hot air: The treatment with hot air relaxes the muscles and relieves pain.
- Hot roll: heat and massage treatment with a roll of funnel-shaped rolled up towels soaked in very hot water.
Heat treatment as a home remedy
Various heat applications can be carried out on your own as home remedies. The best known is probably the hot water bottle: The dry warmth can provide relief from a wide variety of complaints - from cold feet to stomach aches to tense muscles.
In the same way as the hot water bottle, you can also use a cherry stone or spelled pillow. Before doing this, it is heated in the microwave or in the oven (please note the manufacturer's instructions!). You can find out more about the effect and use of such fabric bags filled with various "grains" in the article Grain pillows.
A warm onion wrap can help with earache: wrap a chopped kitchen onion in a thin cloth, warm it, place it on the sore ear and secure it with a headband or cap. You can find more detailed information on the production and use of this well-tried home remedy in the article onion sachets.
A warm wrap or compress on your neck is advisable if you have a sore throat or hoarseness, for example. There are different variants of preparation, for example with hot water, lemons or essential oils. You can read more about this in the article Neck Wrap. If you want to relieve your sore throat with a warm potato poultice, you can find out how to do it in the article Potato Wrap.
A warm wrap can also be good for other parts of the body. For persistent, convulsive coughing, we recommend a hot chest compress or compress. But you should be free of fever for this. You can read more about the application and important warnings in the article Breast Wraps.
A slightly warmed quark poultice or compress on the chest can also help with coughing. You can find out how to make it and use it correctly in the article Quark compresses.
The treatment of respiratory diseases such as bronchitis or pneumonia can also be supported with a mustard flour compress. The skin-irritating essential oil of mustard has a strong effect on blood circulation. You can find more information about the effect, production and use of a mustard compress in the article Mustard.
Warmth or hot showers and baths fall into the area of hydrotherapy. Read more about it here.
When is heat therapy not suitable?
Sometimes heat is not advisable or should be discussed with a doctor first. This applies, for example, in the following cases:
- acute inflammation such as flu-like infections or acute joint inflammation
- (high fever
- open skin injuries or skin irritations in the body area to be treated
- Heart failure (heart failure)
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism)
- Cancer (especially at an advanced stage)
- Bleeding tendency
- Circulatory disorders such as smoker's leg, thrombosis, varicose veins
- Sensitivity disorders (decreased perception of sensitive stimuli such as heat and cold)
- known hypersensitivity to heat
- high age
The doctor can tell you whether heat therapy is helpful in your case and for your symptoms, and if so, in what form. For example, he may allow you to use light heat (e.g. grain pillows) and only advise against intense heat (e.g. moist and hot compresses).
For further warnings on special heat applications such as onion bags, potato or breast compresses, please refer to the respective articles.
Thermotherapy with cold: cold therapy
Cold constricts the blood vessels, reduces blood flow and slows down metabolic processes. This can counteract swelling. In addition, cold causes increased muscle tension when used for a short time, but relaxes the muscles when stimulated for a longer period of time. Pain-relieving has the effect that cold temporarily blocks nerves and pain receptors. A cold treatment can also be used to combat inflammation.
You can read more about the effect and application of cold therapy as well as cold applications as home remedies in the article Cryotherapy.
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