Hades Most women can use hot compresses during the remission period of chronic pain, but this is by no means applicable in all cases. In some cases, blind hot compresses can actually slow down the pace of recovery.
I just met a 28-year-old patient with chronic pelvic inflammatory disease a while ago. It had only been 3 days since the inflammation was under control and the patient was in remission. I thought applying a hot water bag to warm the stomach would make her feel better. However, after applying it for two days, the pain in her lower abdomen worsened. After an examination, I found out that there was still a small amount of inflammatory exudation remaining in the pelvic cavity. The hot compress accelerated the local blood flow and increased the exudation. In fact, there is no absolutely unified answer to this question in clinical and rehabilitation circles. The mainstream view is that if your chronic pain is induced by muscle strain or cold stimulation, such as neck and shoulder myofasciitis caused by sitting for many years, or primary dysmenorrhea that occurs repeatedly during menstruation, there will be no local pain during the remission period. If there is redness, heat, or obvious swelling, warm compresses at about 40°C can indeed relax spasmodic muscles and speed up the discharge of metabolic waste. Many people will feel that the tight areas "melt away" after applying the compresses, which is very comfortable. This is also a home care method that many primary care doctors will recommend first.
However, many specialists will remind you not to apply it casually to chronic immune-related pain, or when the inflammation has not completely subsided, such as the remission period of rheumatoid arthritis, gouty arthritis, and the chronic pain caused by infectious inflammation just mentioned. Even if there are no symptoms on the surface, the effect of hot compresses to expand blood vessels may make the inflammation that has not yet stabilized become active again, but it will bring out the pain that has just been relieved.
In fact, we ordinary people don’t have to work hard to distinguish which category we belong to. There is a very simple judgment standard: you first touch the painful location. If the skin temperature is higher than the normal skin next to it, don’t touch the hot compress first, regardless of whether the pain is mild or severe.； If it feels cold to the touch and your muscles are tight and hard, try applying it for 5 minutes. If you feel comfortable and have no discomfort after applying it, it is okay to continue applying it. Do not apply it for more than 20 minutes at a time. Apply it through a layer of pure cotton clothing and do not apply it directly to the skin, so as not to be like the girl I met before who fell asleep with the baby warmer on her waist. It took only half a month to blister it at low temperature, but she suffered unnecessary consequences.
