4. Warm Compress
While the basic ‘RICE’ strategy along with an elbow brace can help a lot of injuries, it is worth noting that there is some debate over whether hot or cold is best for treating inflammation.
So what is the difference?
On the whole, it is generally agreed that ice is best for injuries, meaning that you have damaged superficial tissues or caused joint pain. If you’ve fallen, been tackled, or are struggling with golfers’ elbow for example. This will help to dull the pain and reduce inflammation.
However, heat, on the other hand, can be useful when you are struggling with muscle pain such as a pulled or torn muscle. This is very useful for back pain, neck pain, and others and works by helping to ease the smooth muscle tissue and prevent it from contracting as much. It can also help to encourage blood flow to a specific area.
But it’s important to be cautious here because heat can actually exacerbate inflammation for that very reason. Likewise, ice can cause damage to nerves when used in excess. When icing or heating, it is important to avoid direct contact with the skin and to limit that contact to around ten minutes.
In the case of tennis elbow, you can try using cold to treat initial swelling, and then using heat as you improve in order to encourage a speedier recovery.