Recovery Tip: Ice And Heat

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Yesterday was a great day for me! I got to see friends, spend some time doing things that I love, and got some much-needed prep done for the week. All in all, it was just the happy day I was hoping to make it - take a peek at my post from yesterday if you're not sure what I'm talking about :)

However, I also managed to score myself a pretty painful spasm in my upper back... On my way to my hot yoga sculpt class that I enjoy so much, not even doing anything appreciably physical. Dang it! Nothing too crazy, just annoying and inconvenient, enough to keep me from really pushing myself during my workout. Lame.

I will say, though, that since it was hurting so much when I moved that I've probably never used my core so much in my life as I did to lock down and stabilize my body during that workout - a silver lining, perhaps? ;)

Anyway, I wanted to share with you a little bit about how I deal with muscle spasms, because for whatever reason I happen to get them every now and again in the same relative area so I've had my fair share of experience!

Especially when I was competing and training a ton!

I personally like to alternate between ice and heat - 20 minutes of each followed by 20 minutes off. That's what feels the best to me when my muscle first locks up and won't let go!

Both ice and heat are inexpensive, easy, and relatively risk-free treatment options and can provide some relief to a painful area... I've found personally that applying pressure to a spasm unfortunately does not help (and can actually make it worse), so I err on the side of caution and go with a gentler approach.

Obviously care is still needed when utilizing ice and heat - don't put the ice pack directly on your skin, make sure the heat pack you're using doesn't burn you or overheat the area and cause more swelling, etc. Use good judgment, listen to your body, and monitor the injury site for improvement and/or regression and you'll be on your way to feeling better in no time :)

Although ice and heat have different "specialties" in terms of which injuries they are most helpful for and when, for myself I typically go by this rule of thumb: if it feels good, do it. Alternating between ice and heat in this situation feels good to me, doesn't seem to cause any exacerbation of my symptoms, and provides relief. Sweet!

As you can see, I've gotten pretty excited about a bag of ice (and the heat to follow) in my day...

So I'll be taking some time to chill, work on the computer, and ice/heat my back today... I'll also be taking some NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, i.e. ibuprofen) in hopes that I'll be feeling much more like myself tomorrow - I am excited to stop hurting and get back into the gym!

Have you ever used heat and ice? What did you think?

Please feel free to comment, upvote, or resteem if you'd like! :)