Hot & Cold Therapy: How It Works To Reduce Pain

Hot & Cold Therapy

Hot & Cold Therapy treatments are an established way to ease the pain and discomfort of many injuries and disorders. This is particularly the case with injuries or disorders involving muscle or joint damage. These injuries or disorders can range from ankle sprains to rotator cuff injuries to osteoarthritis.

However, before deciding which hot & cold therapy to use for your injury, it is advisable to understand how each therapy works. Each has very different modes of operation with distinct benefits.If you apply the wrong treatment to your injury, you may well end up doing more harm than good.

The cold treatments work by reducing blood flow through the injury site. This also helps reduce inflammation. Cold treatments are most effective on acute injuries and in the 48 hours after receiving such injuries.

Heat treatments do the opposite – they increase blood flow and promote muscle relaxation. They are better used for chronic injuries or for conditions such as delayed onset muscle soreness. In some cases, you can alternate hot & cold therapy treatments with each other for increased effectiveness. Delayed onset muscle soreness is one example of a condition that may benefit from this approach.

The heat treatments in the hot & cold therapy category also include moist heat therapy options. These offer deeper tissue penetration and longer lasting pain relief than the traditional dry heat approach. They are a popular choice when dealing with more intense pain such as that from arthritis.

With any type of hot & cold therapy treatment, we would advise against placing the source of heat or cold directly against your skin. It may cause skin damage.

While browsing the hot & cold therapy section, we would suggest taking a good look at the accessories that are also included. Many of them help you to receive greater benefits from this type of therapy with less inconvenience. The shrink wrap bandaging is one example of this type of product.

Showing all 17 results

ColPac Chilling Unit
C$0.00
ColPac® Chilling Units will provide chilled ColPacs on demand to keep you supplied throughout a busy day.

Read more
ColPac Cold Therapy
C$0.00 – C$69.48
ColPac® Cold Therapy packs are a great solution for emergency treatment of acute injuries and are filled with a nontoxic silica gel that maintains pliability during and after use.

Select options
ColPac Freezer
C$0.00
ColPac® Freezers provide 5 cubic feet of capacity and will keep a large supply of already chilled ColPacs ready for use at a moment’s notice. Each freezer comes complete with trays and cup holders and is supplied with 12 standard size ColPacs.

Read more
Cryo Cuff For Rapid Pain Relief
C$168.48 – C$181.44
Choose from Aircast’s anatomically designed Cryo Cuffs for the knee, shoulder, back, wrist and ankle as well as both gravity and motorized cooler units. This cold therapy unit is the perfect accessory to help you stay in the game or to recover from acute injuries with less pain.

Select options
In Stock
Disposable Ice Bags
C$292.52
Mueller Sports Medicine Disposable Ice Bags come with a dispensing mechanism. They are a great accessory for conveniently applying cold therapy to treat sporting or other injuries. Each bag is 10″ x 18″ in size. 1500 bags/roll.

Add to cart
In Stock
EZ-Wrap
C$24.00
The Mueller Sports Medicine EZ-Wrap is the ideal solution for holding hot or cold packs and protective pads securely in place.

Add to cart
Hydrocollator All-Terry Covers
C$0.00 – C$74.48
Hydrocollator® All-Terry Covers will help you enjoy the benefits and pain relief of moist heat therapy while insulating your skin from possible burns.

Select options
Hydrocollator Foam-Filled Terry Covers
C$0.00
Hydrocollator® Foam-Filled Terry Covers use a polyurethane foam layer between dual layers of terry cloth to insulate your skin from the heat of Hydrocollator or other HotPacs.

Select options
In Stock
Hydrocollator HotPacs
C$0.00 – C$63.14
Hydrocollator® HotPacs provide moist heat therapy for treatment of chronic injuries to athletes or other less active individuals.

Select options
Hydrocollator Mobile Heating Unit
C$0.00 – C$2,608.20
The Hydrocollator® Mobile Heating Unit from Chattanooga is durable and easy to maintain and features 3″ swiveling rubber casters for noise and friction free movement around your facility.

Select options
Hydrocollator Stationary Heating Unit
C$0.00 – C$1,436.40
With their thermostatic controls and stainless steel design, Hydrocollator® Stationary Heating Unit from Chattanooga will provide years of temperature consistent HotPacs™.

Select options
MuellerKold Instant Cold Pack
C$9.86
The Mueller Sports Medicine MuellerKold Instant Cold Pack cools just 5 seconds after you start squeezing it. It is ideal for acute sports injuries or other situations that require application of first aid.

Read more
Relief Pak HotSpot Moist Heat Pack
C$25.16 – C$29.55
The Relief Pak® HotSpot® Moist Heat Pack will give you the same moist heat therapy treatment as the Hydrocollator® HotPacs, only at a more economical price.

Select options
In Stock
Reusable Cold & Hot Compress
Rated 5.00 out of 5
C$2.55
The DynaPro Reusable Cold & Hot Compress is a versatile non-toxic compress that you can use for both hot and cold therapies and for treatment of both acute and chronic injuries.

Add to cart
Reusable Cold/Hot Pack
C$7.64
The soft gel of the Mueller Sports Medicine Reusable Cold/Hot Pack can be refrigerated for cold therapy or microwaved for heat therapy.

Read more
Single Use Instant Cold Pack
C$2.23
The DynaPro Health Single Use Instant Cold Pack is an essential part of a first aid kit that will help you start treatment of acute injuries right away.

Read more
TheraTherm Heating Pad – Home Based Pain Relief
C$115.84 – C$147.99
The TheraTherm Digital Moist Heating Pad from Chattanooga has a flannel cover that draws moisture from the air and includes optional pads for the shoulder, neck and back. As its temperature rises, this moisture is released onto your skin, bringing deep and long lasting pain relief.

Select options

Hot & Cold Therapy

ColPac Chilling Unit

ColPac Cold Therapy

ColPac Freezer

Cryo Cuff For Rapid Pain Relief

Disposable Ice Bags

EZ-Wrap

Hydrocollator All-Terry Covers

Hydrocollator Foam-Filled Terry Covers

Hydrocollator HotPacs

Hydrocollator Mobile Heating Unit

Hydrocollator Stationary Heating Unit

MuellerKold Instant Cold Pack

Relief Pak HotSpot Moist Heat Pack

Reusable Cold & Hot Compress

Reusable Cold/Hot Pack

Single Use Instant Cold Pack

TheraTherm Heating Pad – Home Based Pain Relief

Location & Hours

Customer Support

Featured Content

Follow Us

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST