Both hot and cold relieve pain and sore muscles but which one is better? Athletes run into this question all the time. They overdo it the day before at the gym and wake up the next morning thinking what the heck happened! Or maybe it’s after a long day’s work shift and your muscles ache. Do you throw on some ice or a heat pad – well, the answer lies here in this article. Here’s the key differences between cold therapy and heat therapy, and why you may want to keep a steam room or sauna close.
Cold therapy
Cold therapy is also known as ‘cryotherapy’. Cold reduces blood flow to an injury. As blood’s directed away, this can affect the severity of pain in an area. Inflammation, swelling, and tissue damage are all reduced. Cold seems particularly useful in treating swollen or inflamed joints. There’s certainly a reason to use it on occasion. While it has its’ place, cold does not compare with steam room sore muscle therapy. Here’s why.
Heat therapy
Heat therapy dilates the blood vessels and promotes blood flow – the exact opposite of cold. Heat helps to open up sore muscles and relax them, which is why so many athletes use steam rooms, saunas, and other forms of heat therapy to help them along. As circulation improves, oxygen and nutrients are carried to the muscle more efficiently. At the same time, lactic acid drains which helps the muscle to heal.
Why heat is above cold
The aforementioned benefits to heat therapy are more advantageous for sore muscles than colder methods. According to a recent study, delayed onset muscle soreness is reduced with heated therapy by 47%. For athletes, this makes it a clear choice as to which one’s better. Where one needs to be careful with heat is when there’s an injury. Though steam rooms can be included in injury rehabilitation, when an injury’s just occurred, you want ice. This is because something like infrared heat therapy treats pain and soreness but will actually add more inflammation and pain to an injury that needs to literally be cooled down.
Do as the Finnish do!
In Finland, what many consider to be the homeland of saunas, there’s a lot of alternating in a sauna going from heat to cold. This alternating therapy reduces muscle soreness as well as you constrict blood flow to the area with cold and then, promote blood flow to the same area with heat. Going back and forth, it almost works like pulsing compression therapy which is a repeat of constructions and releases of the muscle.
Which one is better for you?
There’s science supporting cold therapy and hot therapy, depending on the effect a person wants. The most effective form of heat therapy – by far – are steam rooms and sauna. These therapy and treatment settings come with a number of health benefits that help not only the muscles but also many other elements of physical and mental health. Thereby, you treat everything including your sore muscles in a setting like a steam room.
Are you looking to install a steam room or sauna on your property? Give us a call for more information and to customize a heat therapy room to your liking. Choose Steam Sauna.