1. What is physical therapy?

Physical therapy (also physiotherapy) is a health profession that assesses and provides treatment to individuals to develop, maintain and restore maximum movement and function throughout life. This includes providing treatment in circumstances where movement and function are threatened by aging, injury, disease or environmental factors.
Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, treatment/intervention, habilitation and rehabilitation.

2. What are the main types of hot or cold therapy?

Hot-cold therapy can be very effective in controlling pain and speeding recovery from injuries or muscle and joint pain. To effectively use these treatments, one would only need to follow some simple guidelines. Hot-cold therapy, or contrast therapy, consists of alternating heat and cold application on the injury or area of pain. To understand hot-cold therapy, one would need to understand the basics of heat-cold therapy. Superficial heat therapies include heating pads, heat lamps, warm moist compressors, and medicated creams or gels. Pain associated with muscle spasms, leg cramps and menstrual cramps responds quickly to these superficial heat treatments. Deep heat therapies involve ultrasound treatment, electric stimulation or paraffin baths. Cold therapy is often summarized by the acronym RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) and reminds us how to treat injuries such as sprains, strains, bumps and bruises.

3. What are the main affects of cold and hot therapy?

Applying cold therapy to these injuries short-circuits the body’s natural swelling response. It produces vasoconstriction, which slows circulation and reduces inflammation, muscle spasms and pain. Elevation uses gravity to encourage blood and fluid to flow away from the injured area, which assists in decreasing swelling. Superficial cold therapy is available in commercial cold packs, iced towels/compressions and varying forms of hydrotherapy. The duration of cold therapy is relatively less than heat therapy, but the effect of the cold is known to last longer than heat.