SPRAINS AND BRUISES: THE HOT AND COLD TREATMENT

Apr 29 2009

Materials needed:

A good supply of hot water and a good suply of ice water.

Containers suitable for the immersing of the injured part into each of the above, if the part injured is immersible. If it is not, then fomentations must be used and this will require fomentation cloths.

The hot water should be as hot as the patient can possibly tolerate, which will be considerably hotter than he thinks. The secret of the effectiveness of this treatment lies in the extreme between the hot and cold. This extreme must be as great as possible.

If using fomentation cloths, the use of a large pressure cooker is extremely useful in getting the heat required without the danger of burning the patient from water left in the cloth. Fold the fomentation cloth into an oblong piece and roll it into a neat ball. Place it on top of a small stand which has been placed in the pressure cooker to keep it out of the water. Usually two rolls are steamed at a time. After the pressure has been raised, remove the lid and take one cloth out. Wrap it in a good layer of towelling and apply to the injury.

Method:

Apply the heat first. Initially the temperature of the hot water will not be as hot as it will be later because the patient will gradually build up a tolerance for hotter water. The attendant should be aware of this and increase temperature as tolerated. After two or three minutes in the hot, plunge the Injured part into the ice water, or replace the fomentation with an ice pack, as the case may be. This should be of a shorter duration than the immersion in the hot, usually Listing from thirty to sixty seconds. No arbitrary time periods .ire laid down. If the patient finds the heat unbearable, let him plunge into the ice water earlier. It will not be difficult to yet the feel of how long each portion of the treatment should last, but as a general guide it should be approximately three to four minutes in the hot, and thirty to sixty seconds in the cold. Continue the treatment until full relief is obtained from the pain.

The sooner the treatment is begun, the sooner the results. And conversely, the longer the delay, the more time It requires to obtain relief. The treatment should be started as soon as possible after the injury happens.

This is what the treatment will accomplish: The heat expands and softens the tissues, enlarges the blood vessels, and warms the blood, enabling it to flow more easily. This helps to ease the traffic jam and build-up of painful pressure. The cold, in turn, quickly contracts the tissues and helps to force the blood on its way. Thus, in effect, a secondary pump (other than the heart) has been installed at the site of the trouble. A build-up of blood is prevented; there is no de-oxygenation, swelling, or pain, and no resultant black and blueness.

When congestion is thus prevented and the continuous flow of blood assured, the healing process begins at once. Blood is a powerful healer and, if unencumbered, will do its work with surprising speed. Of course, its ability to heal depends upon its own condition. The freer it is from toxins, the more fully charged with oxygen, and the richer it is in nutrients, the speedier the recovery will be. Consequently, as was mentioned earlier, a person living on a healthful diet in a fresh air environment, with adequate exercise, will get much better results than those who have not given themselves these advantages. The latter class will have to stay with the treatment much longer than the former, but in both cases, success may be achieved.

NOTE:

There is a device which lends much more convenience to the carrying out of heat treatments. This is the Battle Creek Electric Thermophore. It may be obtained from Battle Creek Equipment, 307 West Jackson Street, Battle Creek, Michigan, 49016, U.S.A.