Is Heat Or Cold Better For a Sprained Wrist?
There is an ongoing debate about whether heat or cold is better for injury like a sprained wrist. It’s usually the same debate, and doesn’t go very deeply into how the body works and how hot or cold affects body mechanics. But the unchanging fact is that Injury kicks in an inflammatory response, and heat and cold both affect it in certain ways. Let’s keep it simple. What Happens When You Sprain Your Wrist? The moment injury happens the body kicks in an Inflammation response. This does three things, it traps fluid in the area, it tightens muscles to ‘guard’ and ‘protect’ you from further injury, and it releases chemicals which enhance your sensitivity to pain. As a side note, in my experience the injury is not the problem, it’s the body’s response to the problem that takes weeks and months to ‘heal’. The key concept to dealing with an injury like a sprained wrist is kicking out the Inflammation Response. Wrist sprains heal fast, but the defensive response can last for months, years, and
