Ice for Fibromyalgia Pain?

April 25, 2012 by Lisa

ice and fibromyalgia

I had a company contact me today and ask to put some advertising on my website.

They sell Ice wraps.

The representative said “I’m sure it won’t surprise you that many of our customers are fibromyalgia sufferers”

Actually, that surprised me quite a bit, so I thought I would share my opinion on using ice for fibromyalgia pain.

It’s a bad idea if you ever want to cure fibromyalgia.

Here’s why. It REDUCES circulation to the area that it is applied to, and honestly, I think reduced circulation is a huge part of fibromyalgia pain in the first place, so applying ice will essentially make things worse.

Sure, it may dull the pain in the moment, but it can’t help heal anything.

My intent, when I had fibromyalgia, and I discovered I could make it better with stretching and trigger point massage was always to FEEL BETTER in the long run, not just the short run. My intent now that I am cured is to help others cure it too, and not just feel better for a little bit.

So I never recommend ice. It doesn’t have the ability to increase circulation like heat does. When you stretch and do trigger point massage you are also increasing circulation.

That’s why I like heat. It makes whole muscle groups looser and increases circulation to the area.

Heat always helped me. I used to take a big microwave activated heat pad and put it on my back every night – like this one

Just recently I found a horrible trigger point on my stomach and rubbing it with my fingers made me feel like I wanted to puke for hours afterwards – so I just rubbed it really lightly and then I applied heat.

It went away in just a few days.

I didn’t like to use that pack during the day – because it would sometimes make me feel tighter after I stopped using it, so I liked thermacare during the day.

Those things are awesome. They last for 8 hours and can go almost anywhere on your body. I know they helped me cure fibro.

You can sometimes find decent deals online for them, but I like to get them from rite aid and walgreens – I watch the sales on them and then buy in bulk.

I have a whole cabinet full right now actually cuz I haven’t needed any in a while.

Also, if you go to the website and click on special offers you can get a one time $3 coupon.

So, that’s my views on hot and cold for healing your muscles and fascia.

I never rotate hot then cold, hot then cold either. I know some people recommend that. I never found it helpful.

I only use cold within 24 hours of an injury.

Even when I fell on the ice 2 years ago and hurt my knee really badly, I just used cold for a few hours, and then I
went straight to heat.

What do you think about heat or cold for fibromyalgia pain?

Highly Recommended: 30 Days to Feel Better From Fibromyalgia

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Comments

6 Comments on Ice for Fibromyalgia Pain?

Jenny on Wed, 25th Apr 2012 8:55 pm

Ice really helps me especially on my knees.

Lanie on Thu, 26th Apr 2012 11:14 am

My sister has suffered with fibromyalgia for many years. Unfortunately, I can’t get her to research her condition on the Web, but I can tell her about the ThermaCare heat wraps, stretching and trigger point massage. Thanks for a very informative post.

admin on Fri, 27th Apr 2012 10:49 am

you are welcome!

admin on Fri, 27th Apr 2012 10:49 am

have you ever tried heat?

Liezl on Sun, 3rd Jun 2012 4:37 am

I TOTALLY AGREE!
I sleep on an electric warm blanket every night of my life! Summer or Winter, it does not matter. Otherwise my muscles are so stif the next morning, I can hardly move.
I have Fibro very bad for the past year. Basically bedridden because of it. My life was in chaos last year and on top of that my dad got sick, heart-failure, and it was hospital in and out and I had to take care of a 120kg man. And then he died. He was my best friend, I could tell him anything, even woman stuff! He handled all my admin affairs to take stress away from me, because of fibro. 2 days after his funeral , my body gave in. 1 month I spend in hospital and after that its just me and my bed. So the warm blanket is on 24hours , 7 days a week on its warmest setting to help lighten the pain. When it gets colder, or the electricity goes off for some reason (I live in South Africa), I still lay in the bed that was just hot, but I feel I can die of the cold sinking into my body

admin on Mon, 4th Jun 2012 11:42 am

Thank you Liezl for your comment and I am so sorry for your loss Lisa