Fact: There are tons of myths about hot and cold, reason being they do different things to your body.
Heat cause the temperature in your tissues to increase which relaxes your muscles and also allows the blood vessels to expand ” vasodilation” and delivers more oxygen and nutrients to a injured area. Since heat increases blood and lymph flow, warmer tissues may have more swelling “inflammation”.
On the other hand, cold works by decreasing the temperature of the tissues. This causes the area to become numb and blood vessels to narrow “vasoconstriction“, there by lessoning swelling and inflammation. Cold can act as a local anesthetic which can be very helpful in relieving pain.
For most new sports injuries especially in the first 24-48 hours the goal is to limit swelling and inflammation so we use “PRICE” Protect, Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate.
The you Dr Oz and Friends Bust Common Health Myths