Fitness
Ice or Heat Injury Timing
Ice or heat injury timing matches the stage—cold early for acute swelling, heat later for chronic stiffness before mobility work.
Ice or heat injury timing depends on stage: ice or cold packs often soothe acute swelling and heat in the first forty-eight to seventy-two hours; heat and warm baths can help chronic stiffness and pre-movement prep once acute inflammation calms. Neither replaces exercise or PT.
Avoid burning skin—barrier towels, ten- to fifteen-minute caps.
Common questions
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Can heat make a fresh sprain worse?
Yes in the first days—heat can increase blood flow and swelling when tissue is acutely inflamed; switch toward heat when your clinician says inflammation has settled.
Related terms
Put Ice or Heat Injury Timing into practice
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