Therapeutic Heat and Cold for Athletic Injuries.

In brief Soft-tissue responses to injuries result in impaired neuromuscular function. Therapeutic heat and cold can minimize this injury response and maximize functional recovery. Before determining which type of treatment is most appropriate at a given stage, the team physician must understand not only the expected physiologic response to each modality but also the athlete's individual response to a given mode. For example, although cryotherapy has broad applicability to sports injuries, many athletes tolerate cold poorly. The author discusses both the art and the science of treating injuries with therapeutic heat and cold.