“Is heat good for lower back pain?”

heat is good for muscle tightness and ice is good for pain after a long day

Chronic or long term pain seems to respond best to a moist heat. Heat increases circulation and can help reduce pain stiffness and discomfort. Don’t use a dry heating pad as that can irritate the nerves and make the situation worse.

Conversely, acute pain or injuries usually respond better to ice. With heat you bring blood in, but acute situations usually swell and the blood cannot get out. This will increase the pain and stiffness and can even bring calcium into the area as deposits.

Ice is s also anti- inflammatory where as heat adds “flame” to an area.

Hello Heat for 15-20 minutes in the form of moist heat, infrared, hot tub is good to improve circulation to rid the body of bi products of cellular metabolism. YOU MUST FOLLOW THIS WITH 10 MINUTES OF ICE OR THE INFLAMMATION WILL COTINUE AND GET WORSE.

Heat is good for long-term low back pain, but cold is superior for acute

Sorry, you received an answer to someone else's question. The answer to your question about heat would be "sometimes." Meaning, usually on a fresh injury or sprain/strain, ice is preferred for the first couple of day.s then gradually work in heat, even alternating it with ice. A lot has to do with how much inflammation (swelling) remains. If there is a lot of restricted range of motion there is likely a lot of inflammation. AS far as the type of heat, I think it matters a lot! Dry heating pads almost always cause more swelling and problems primarily because a. dry heat is very superficial and does not access the deep blood vessels which need to disapate the heat. and b. People tend to leave them on esp. when using an electric heating pad for way too long because the warmth feels good, but is actually creating another layer of problems on top of the original. Deep heat such as moist heat for a brief time 10-15 minutes is OK, but my faforite is diathermy which penetrates esp. into the deep structures and really gets the circulation moving. Thanks for the question.

It can be if heat is needed. Heat is used for tightness and stiffness. Ice is used for inflammation and tenderness. So, if it is more tight than tender then use heat, if it is more tender than tight consider ice.

The short answer is no. Heat will provide short term relief but is short lasting and doesn't solve your problem. Movement, like walking, and low intensity exercise is actually best (try the "press up" or "cobra pose"). Try seeing a physical therapist as we are the movement experts in resolving back pain. Contact my office and we can set up a tele-health visit.