does heat take away pain?

Question

example: wet a sock with hot water and put it on your knee. does it take away the pain

Answer 1

Ice is best for the knee, it protects it from futher damage and takes away the pain, and lets it heal. Heat can help only if a muscle is tight but normally on a knee if its hurting you have pulled a ligament or tendon and only ice will do that any good.

Answer 2

Heat does not actually alleviate pain. It assists with vasodilation which contributes to calming muscle spasms and reducing edema (swelling) by increasing blood flow which can assist with fluid return if the affected extremity is elevated. You should put heat on a new injury to increase blood flow to the site for healing purposes, and then ice the injury to further reduce swelling (through vasoconstriction) and pain. Ice does take away pain by numbing pain receptors and/or sending new stimuli to the brain to overthrow the painful stimuli.

Answer 3

Yes and no. If heat is applied to a tight muscle, it will relax it and alleviate the muscle pain. If there is trauma or any type of swelling, heat will make it much worse. Ice/cold is the ideal therapy if you're not certain which to use. Cold pack reduces swelling and also numbs the pain out.

Answer 4

First question i would have is how did you get hurt in the first place. If you hit you knee on an object ice will keep the swelling down. swelling will cause you pain. But ice is my first answer.

Answer 5

YEP