Physiotherapists in Chiswick treat many different conditions including the issues profiled below.

Skin Burn after Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy, also called cold therapy or ice therapy, is a common modality of self treatment and routinely used in physiotherapy for acute injuries. However, partial thickness skin burns have been known to occur after cryotherapy and this therapy needs to be carefully managed to prevent doing patients harm. When cold is applied to the skin it responds initially with vasoconstriction, reducing the amount of blood in the area to conserve heat. As the cold persists this is followed by vasodilation as the circulation to the area is increased to bring warmth to the area and prevent tissue damage.

If cold then persists for a long time the circulation may be withdrawn more permanently, allowing an area of skin to be exposed to cold for a time when it has no blood supply to keep it warm and alive. This can result in local death of the skin, an ice burn or frostbite. Physiotherapists are aware of this danger, assess the patient for skin sensibility and apply cold carefully with supervision. The use of cold packs taken from a freezer (at minus 18 degrees) is not safe directly on the skin and a wet towelling material should always be put between the pack and the skin.

Ice Treatment and Physiotherapy

Ice and other cold treatments are important techniques in the armoury of physiotherapists and useful for a wide range of conditions. The major use of cold therapy or cryotherapy is to reduce and control inflammation and swelling in recent or acute injuries to the musculoskeletal system. In the first few days after injury heat will increase the metabolic rate and may aggravate the injury while cold will do the opposite and also provide some pain relief. Pain relief is important as a reduction in pain is not only pleasant for the patient but allows them to move the part and contract the muscles more effectively, beginning rehabilitation of the area.

Ice should not be directly applied to the skin, especially if packs from a freezer are used, as this may cause an ice burn which is a form of skin damage. Patients are assessed by the physiotherapist for safety and a layer of wet material is placed inbetween the skin and the ice pack. The skin is checked at intervals to make sure it is not reacting badly to the cold and the treatment time may be up to twenty minutes. Compression may be more important than cold and often they are combined.