Tennis Elbow - Is Using Heat Good For It?
Today I spoke online with someone suffering from Tennis Elbow. A medical professional had told him to use heat on the area, but it didn't seem to be helping.
He wanted to know if using heat was good for Tennis Elbow. What do you think?
What Does Heat Do?
Applying heat brings blood to the area. For various reasons, when heat is applied to the skin, the body pushes blood to the area. Blood basically comes from the arteries into the muscles and skin.
Many people use heat for various aches and pain because it makes them feel better. And it usually does, because most muscle pain is due to the lack of new blood in the muscle. New blood brings new oxygen and new nutrition to the muscle, and the muscle likes that.
But due to the many factors of why a person in hurting in the first place, very soon the muscle again experiences reduced circulation and lacks the best amount of oxygen and nutrition, and irritants get trapped in the area too.
So using heat is really good because it helps the muscle get the nutrition it needs to be happy and healthy.
If the amount of circulation was the only issue, heat would be all you need. But have you ever noticed that when people use heat because it reduces pain, it doesn't actually fix anything, and they continue to hurt after the benefit of the heat wears off?
The Problem of using Heat and Tennis Elbow.
In the very early stages of Tennis Elbow, heat can be a real help. It is unlikely to reverse the growing problem, but when the elbow pain dynamic is beginning, heat can help the body fight it off and stay mostly pain free for a longer period of time.
However, most people ignore their pain until it becomes a real problem. And by then, using just heat can actually hurt you more than help you.
Because of the way Inflammation and the Pain Causing Dynamic works, when heat brings new blood to the area, it may feel better briefly, but what you don't feel is that new fluid gets trapped in the area, along with pain enhancing chemical and normal metabolic waste.
Because Inflammation traps fluid in the area, you can actually have cell damage due to starvation because nutrition has a harder time getting through all the extra fluid to feed the cells.
The way the Tendonitis dynamic works in the body, and the way heat works with the body, heat cannot reverse the dynamic, nor really help it.
Having said that, if you alternate heat with cold, you can get an incredible circulatory effect. But make sure to always finish on cold.
Heat tries to help, but despite its best intentions, actually hurts you.
Tennis Elbow - Is Using Heat Good For It?
Tennis Elbow - Is Using Heat Good For It?
Tennis Elbow - Is Using Heat Good For It?
Tennis Elbow - Is Using Heat Good For It? Tennis Elbow - Is Using Heat Good For It?
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