Thermotherapy and cryotherapy are helpful when trying to heal an injury but are often used for different types of injuries. Typically, athletes with a chronic injury use thermotherapy because it causes vasodilation, increased blood flow, decreased joint stiffness, etc. (Anderson, para. 9). These are all important for healing chronic injuries. On the other hand, cryotherapy is used more for acute injuries because it decreases metabolic rate, blood flow, muscle guarding and more (Prentice, 2015, p. 394). Other physiological effects of thermotherapy and cryotherapy are in the tables on page two.
Contraindications are conditions that would make a type of treatment bad or harmful to the patient. Some contraindications for thermotherapy are if the
Contraindications are conditions that would make a type of treatment bad or harmful to the patient. Some contraindications for thermotherapy are if the