Can hot compress be used during the remission period of chronic pain? How should women apply it?

During the remission period of most chronic non-inflammatory pain, women can rest assured that hot compresses can help relax tense muscles, improve local circulation, and reduce the frequency of pain attacks. However, if it is the active stage of rheumatoid arthritis, there is local skin damage, or there is chronic infectious pain (such as 1-2 days after the attack of chronic pelvic inflammatory disease), even if it is in remission, it is not recommended to apply hot compress casually, but it may aggravate the symptoms.

I have been working in a rehabilitation studio for almost 5 years and have seen too many girls step into the pitfalls of hot compresses. Last week, I met a girl who works in operations. She suffers from lumbar muscle strain and primary dysmenorrhea from sitting for a long time. When she is not in pain, she always likes to hold a hot water bottle and apply it randomly on her waist and stomach. As a result, she just encountered a slight pelvic inflammation a while ago. She did not take it seriously. She applied it for three days in a row. It was just a little swollen. In the end, she was so painful that she broke out in a cold sweat and came to the doctor. Only then did she realize that she had just hit the taboo of hot compresses.

When choosing the temperature, don’t pursue “hot water to be effective.” Many girls fill a hot water bottle with freshly boiled water, wrap it in a thin towel and put it on the body. In fact, 40 to 45 degrees is just right. It feels similar to a cotton quilt that has been exposed to the sun for half an hour in the spring. It will not shrink when you apply it. The warmth slowly penetrates into the muscles, and can slowly loosen the tight lumps. Don’t be greedy for a long time for a single application, 15 to 20 minutes is enough. I once met a girl who was afraid of the cold in winter. She held a hot water bag and applied it on her waist all night. The next day, her waist became very red and there were several blisters from low-temperature burns. She was just trying to take care of herself, but instead she suffered a serious injury.

For girls with dysmenorrhea, if their menstrual flow is usually heavy, during the remission period, do not always push the hot water bottle on the lower abdomen. Instead, you can apply it on the Baliao point on the back of the waist, which is the area below the waist and above the buttocks that feels a bit sunken. The warm water can relax the muscles around the pelvic cavity and will not cause increased bleeding. If it is a chronic strain of the shoulder and neck, don’t just apply it on the back of your neck. Apply it together with the upper trapezius muscles on both sides, which are the two "thick muscles" that usually feel hard to the touch. After applying it for ten minutes and then turning your neck, you will feel much more relaxed.

Nowadays, many sports rehabilitation practitioners hold different views. They feel that if chronic pain is caused by nerve entrapment, such as severe lumbar disc herniation compressing the sciatic nerve, the effect of hot compress during the remission period is actually very limited, and it is not as useful as regular rehabilitation exercises. This statement does have clinical basis. According to this, I previously had a patient with a lumbar protrusion of 4 mm. During the remission period, I applied lumbar compression every day, and it still hurt. Later, I did glute bridge and core training for 3 months, and the frequency of recurrence dropped by more than half. In the final analysis, hot compress is only a means of auxiliary relaxation, and it really cannot be regarded as the only method of improvement.

If you feel the pain gets worse after applying it, or the area becomes red and itchy, just stop immediately. Don't hold on and think it's "unblocking". There is a high probability that either your current condition is not suitable for hot compress, or the temperature is too high and the time is too long. There are also popular baby warmers and moxibustion patches. They must not be applied directly to the skin. They must be separated by a layer of pure cotton autumn clothes or cloth, especially when sleeping. They are not sensitive to temperature while asleep, and it is easy to be burned without knowing it.