Can heat compress be used during the remission period of chronic pain?

In most cases, it is possible, but not all chronic pain relief periods are suitable. It depends on your specific pain type and whether there is any hidden inflammatory reaction at the moment.

Take the patients with lumbar muscle strain and neck and shoulder myofasciitis that I often come into contact with. Many people do not experience obvious tingling, redness or swelling during the remission period. However, they will feel local stiffness and soreness after sitting for a long time or blowing cold wind. At this time, apply a warm water bag at about 40 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, which is very comfortable. A friend who worked in development had suffered from lumbar muscle strain for 3 years. He carried a rechargeable waist warmer on his waist all year round when he was working. He applied it for 20 minutes in the morning and afternoon. The originally stiff waist could relax for most of the day. In essence, hot compress is like a gentle warm SPA for tight muscles. It can loosen spasmed muscle fibers and speed up local blood flow. The lactic acid and tiny inflammatory factors accumulated in the muscles can be metabolized faster with the blood flow, so the soreness is naturally relieved.

Speaking of which, when I consulted with the elders in my family before, I found that doctors from different departments had really different views on this matter. My aunt has a history of rheumatoid arthritis for five or six years. During that time, she was in remission, but her knees were occasionally stiff. She wanted to apply a coarse salt pack on it, but the doctor in the rehabilitation department said that as long as the temperature is controlled within 42 degrees, a warm compress for about ten minutes is fine, and it can also help improve joint mobility. ； However, when she went to the rheumatology department for follow-up, the doctor saw that her recent erythrocyte sedimentation rate was still a bit high, indicating that the synovium actually had hidden inflammatory activities. Hot compresses would dilate local blood vessels and may aggravate swelling, so he advised her not to apply them for the time being.

There is no completely unified standard for this matter in the industry. After all, the onset logic of different chronic pains is very different. For example, if the uric acid is not well controlled during the chronic remission period of gout, even if there is no attack, hot compresses may stimulate the joints and induce acute pain. If you are not sure whether you can apply it, you can try it with a warm towel for three to five minutes. If you feel relaxed after applying it and there is no aggravation of soreness or local heat and swelling, you can continue. If it makes you feel more uncomfortable after applying it, stop immediately.

By the way, I would like to remind you, don’t use a hot water bottle that is too hot, and don’t go to bed with a baby warmer on it. I have seen a patient sleep with a waist warmer all night long, and got a shallow second-degree blister on his waist. Originally, he just wanted to relieve back pain, but he suffered extra consequences.