Can hot compress be used during the remission period of chronic pain? How should women apply it?

The vast majority of women can use hot compresses during the remission period of chronic pain, but this is not applicable in all cases. You must first understand the source of your pain before applying hot compresses. Don't follow the trend of applying hot compresses and cause problems.

A while ago, the little girl in my studio suffered from lumbar muscle strain and stiffness for almost three weeks. She finally got through the remission period where the pain was not too much, but she was a bit sore after sitting for a long time. Every day when she got to work, she put a charged hand warmer on her waist and leaned against it. After a week or so, she said that the tight areas were much looser, and she no longer hurt when she bent down to pick things up. But another cousin who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, her finger joints just changed from the acute stage of redness, swelling and pain to the remission stage where she can make a fist a few days ago. She followed the online tutorial and applied coarse salt packs for two days, but it became so swollen that she couldn't bend her fingers. After going for a review, she encountered the pitfall of "can't just apply heat when the inflammatory pain has just subsided".

In fact, it is still somewhat controversial in clinical practice whether to use hot compress for chronic pain that has just transferred from the acute phase and is combined with aseptic or autoimmune inflammation. Some doctors believe that in the first 1-3 days after remission, local inflammatory factors have not been completely metabolized, and hot compresses will dilate blood vessels, which may increase inflammatory exudation and return the pain to its original state. ； However, many doctors in the rehabilitation department believe that as long as there is no obvious redness or swelling on the skin surface and it is not hot to the touch, the circulatory benefits of hot compress far outweigh the risks. It is equivalent to warming the muscles that have been tight for a long time and the clogged microcirculation. Metabolic waste and inflammatory factors that are piled up to make people sore and stiff can be taken out by the blood faster, and the feeling of relaxation is real.

If you suffer from the most common chronic pain of primary dysmenorrhea, lumbar muscle strain, stiff neck and shoulders, or cold legs without obvious inflammatory redness and swelling, you don’t need to be too nervous when applying it. The temperature should be controlled to be 3-5 degrees higher than your skin temperature. It should be warm to the touch without burning your face. Don’t be stupid and use the highest-end hot compress device to apply it on your body. When using a baby warmer in winter, put a thin layer of autumn clothing between it and the hot water bottle. It is best to wrap it with an old cotton T-shirt. Apply it for 20 to 30 minutes each time, up to twice a day. Don't sleep with the hot water bag for too long. I did this stupid thing last winter. After my menstrual cramps were relieved, I hugged the hot water bag and stayed on the bed to watch TV dramas. When I woke up, there was a light red mark on my waist. The pain lasted for several days.

If it is chronic pelvic pain caused by pelvic inflammatory disease, and there is no abnormal bleeding during the remission period, and the leucorrhea is not yellow and smelly, you can also apply it on the lower abdomen, which can help reduce the feeling of swelling. However, if it is gouty arthritis or autoimmune joint pain in the active stage, do not apply it casually to the affected area. High temperature may induce the dissolution of uric acid crystals and aggravate the inflammatory reaction. It is best to ask your attending doctor before taking action.

Don’t treat hot compresses as a panacea. The aunt downstairs had a degenerative knee disease. She used to apply it twice a day on her knees during the remission period. After applying it for half a month, she said it still hurt. When I asked her, she climbed the hill in the community to exercise. The muscles and joints that had just been loosened by hot compresses had not yet stabilized, so it would be useless to make things up. Generally, the effect would be good if you rest for about ten minutes after applying the application and then do normal activities.