Cold-hot compresses are special compresses that can cool painful body parts on the one hand, but also warm them up. They contain a material with high heat storage capacity, which can maintain a previously set temperature for a long time. The cold or warm treatment allows a faster healing process.
What is a cold-warm compress?
Cold-warm compresses are a special type of compresses that have cooling or warming effect on the parts of the body to be treated. Cold-warm compresses are a special form of compresses that have a cooling or warming effect on the parts of the body to be treated. In this way, they have a significant influence on the healing process of inflamed, injured and painful parts of the body. In general, compresses are wound dressings made of gauze or non-woven fabric. They also include folded cloths, bandages and overlays used to protect the wound site or to stop bleeding. Ointments can also be applied to the wound by means of compresses. Cold-warm compresses, however, are a special form of compresses. They are bags containing a gel with a large heat capacity. Cooled gel heats up very slowly, while warmed gel cools down slowly. This property is used for cooling or warming affected parts of the body. Cold-warm compresses thus provide quick relief for bruises, sprains, back pain or joint pain.
Forms, types and kinds
The structure of cold-warm compresses is very simple. They are pouches that contain a gel with a heat-retaining agent inside. The pouches are also made of either polyamide or polyethylene films, which seal the gel well from the environment. Thus, the cold-warm compresses can be used again and again. They are commercially available in various sizes and shapes. However, the functional and effective principle is the same for all cold-warm compresses. Besides the cold-warm compresses, however, there are both exclusive cold compresses and heat-generating compresses (heat plasters). These compresses work on a different principle and can only be used once.
Structure and mode of operation
The classic cold-warm compresses represent bags of a gel-like substance that must first be warmed or cooled before being applied to the painful part of the body. The warmed or cooled compress is then applied to the affected area, developing its beneficial effects. The main ingredient of the gel is a colorless liquid, which has the chemical name propylene glycol. Propylene glycol is also contained in many ointments as a humectant. It is non-toxic in small amounts and is also found in classic compresses along with cellulose as a humectant, in food dyes, and in preservatives. Polypropylene glycol has a freezing point of -68 degrees Celsius and a vapor point of 188 degrees Celsius. Within this temperature range, this solvent is liquid and adjusts very slowly in temperature to the external temperature values. Before using the cold-warm compresses, they are cooled either in the freezer or the refrigerator for two hours at a temperature down to -25 degrees or heated in a water bath for about 8 minutes at a temperature of about 80 degrees. The cooled or heated compress can then be applied to the affected area. Since the gel does not change chemically, the cold-warm compress can be used again and again and thus adapted to the intended use. In contrast, pure cold compresses or heat patches are used only once. Single-use cold compresses contain ammonium nitrate in the plastic cover and water in the packet. After compressing the compress, the plastic cover bursts and ammonium nitrate dissolves in water under strong cooling. Heat patches, in turn, contain the active ingredient capsaicin, which triggers local heat-generating metabolic processes upon contact with the skin.
Medical and health benefits
Cold-warm compresses quickly help with bruises, sprains, swelling and severe pain. Their most important property is to relieve the pain. The real healing must then be accomplished by the body itself. Whether a heat treatment or a cold treatment helps better, everyone has to try out for himself. There is a rule according to which acute pain should be cooled and chronic pain should be warmed.Sometimes, however, the opposite is also the case. Cold or heat changes the speed of metabolic processes in the area to be treated. Thus, the influence of cold results in a slowing down of physical processes. This also reduces the activity of pro-inflammatory agents. As a result, the intensity of pain decreases. Cold has proved particularly effective for injuries to muscles, ligaments and joints, after operations or in cases of wear and tear of the joints. Cold treatments have also proven effective for abscesses, as bacterial activity is reduced in these cases. Depending on the extent of the pain, the cold treatments can be localized and regionally limited or distributed over the entire body. The skin, subcutaneous tissue and joints are reached. However, the effectiveness also depends on the length and frequency of application. However, cold application should not be performed in cases of circulatory disorders, open injuries, coronary artery disease or hypersensitivity to cold. During heat treatment, metabolic processes in the body are accelerated. Thus, due to a faster immune response, pain-triggering messenger substances can be transported away more quickly. In this case, the pain reactions are thereby reduced. Heat is particularly helpful in cases of chronic wear and tear and inflammation of the joints. Heat treatment also reaches the skin, connective tissue and joints. However, heat treatment should be avoided in cases of acute inflammatory joint diseases, acute infections, abscesses, cardiovascular diseases or heat intolerance. In these cases, the acceleration of metabolic processes could exacerbate the underlying disease.
