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lusciouslips19 -> RE: Ouch, In pain (4/15/2008 3:31:50 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cjan
I agree , totally, with Emperor's advice. I am a massage therapist with many years of experience working with people with a wide spectrum of pain issues.
Traumeel, I've found, can be a very effective topical agent. It may not have, as Emeror says, any so called "active" ingredient, however, that is not how homeopathy works. However it does work,as it does in many, many cases ,and I tend to go with what works, even though I may not understand how it does so.
Finally, someone suggested using heat as well as ice. I would definitely recommend that you do not use heat on iflamation ! Heat dilates blood vessels and increases blood flow to the area of application. This is exactly what you do not want to do in the case of inflamation. The acronym for what to do for inflamation is RICE. Rest, ice,compress ( ace or other such like ), and elevation.
This is partially true. But Heat can be helpful IF This is not an acute injury. There are 3 classifications for injury and strains . Acute, sub acute and chronic. The acute phase usually lasts around 3 days then becomes sub acute. Signs of swelling,heat and redness accompany this phase. Pain too. Do you have movement and range of motion or have you lost degrees of movement? Now, sometimes it may be difficult to ascertain what phase you are at. Whether acute, sub acute or chronic. I am betting if this has been going on for more than 2 weeks, its not acute. However you may still have some edema.
I have found that if you are concerned about heat causing more inflammation, the best treatment is alternating ice and heat. This of course would not be done during an acute phase of injury or strain but rather in the latter stages.. You have the heat to sooth and give you the blood flow, while the Ice will minimize any danger of re-inflammation. Alternate heat, ice,heat ice. Make sure to end with ice.\
I do not agree with an earlier statement of not moving the arm. If swelling has gone down and you have motion, you should move it with gentle stretching. To not do so, and to guard the shoulder creates a condition called Adhesive Capsulitis or Frozen Shoulder. When this happens surgery or painful Physical therapy is needed to regain lost Range of Motion.
I too am a Massage Therapist with years of experience with pain and in working in Chiropractic care, clinical and sports applications. I also teach Massage Therapy at a Vocational college.
This does not make me a doctor, so see yours.
Edited to say: If this is an injury that just occured this past weekend then yes, only ice for the first few days.
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