Survival Scoop

SOOTHING PAINFUL INFLAMMATION

If you have experienced inflammatory pain, you know that it hinders activity. Your muscles tighten. It is possible for you to lose several days to bed rest, fighting nausea and popping pain pills. Pain relief isn't always found with medication. I'm not a medical professional, but I suspect that many pain medications only serve to quiet the patient and not to reduce the pain.

 

There is a more natural treatment that will help with pain and inflammation. The treatment is the alternate application of hot and cold compresses.

 

By using cold and then hot applications, a pumping action is created. Blood is pushed away from the area by the cold. The area is then flooded with fresh blood with the application of heat. The inflammation in the blood stream is reduced as a result of the increased circulation. Down time is reduced as mobility is increased with the decrease in inflammation and pain.

 

Hot & Cold treatment can be done two ways.

 

ONE METHOD -- WHILE SHOWERING.

Direct your shower stream at the painful area. Adjust the water to the coolest setting you can stand and keep it there for 15 seconds. Next adjust the water temperature back to the hottest setting you can tolerate. Yell if you need to, but try to keep this up for around 20 minutes.

 

ANOTHER METHOD, WITH HELP

Wet two cloth towels and then squeeze the excess liquid from them. Put one of the towels into a paper bag and fold shut. Warm your oven to its lowest temperature, somewhere between 100 and 170 degrees. Making sure to not touch any of the heating elements, set the closed paper bag into the oven. Place the second towel into another paper bag. Place the second bag into the freezer.

 

START & END WITH COLD

After a quarter of an hour, set a timer for 15 minutes, remove the cool towel from the freezer, place it onto the sore area and let it rest for 15 minutes. When the timer rings, take the oven towel, and replace the cool towel with it. Move the cool cloth back into the freezer and repeat this procedure until there is pain relief. This is a slow, methodical relay of hot for cold towels.

 

 

You may need to keep a cloth between the towel and your skin. Insulate the hot/cold towel with another thick dry towel placed on top. If the towels become too dry, wet them again. Your last session should use the cold towel.

 

By taking naps, I've managed to continue this through the night. One night's loss of sleep was worth it to know I'd be up and about the next day.

 

If you're roughing it, use a campfire to heat dry rocks which you can then wrap in damp towels. Don't use wet rocks because they will explode when heated on a fire. The warm compress will consist of the heated rocks wrapped in damp towels. The cool compress will be towels moistened in fresh water. Utilize a cooling breeze (or create a fan) across the damp compress. This will cause some of the moisture to evaporate and cause it to be even cooler. Every person is important in a survival situation. It's to your advantage to have someone recover quickly. An inflamed injury can cause someone to lose mobility. Using the hot/cold compress can help you get valuable members of your party back onto their feet.

 

This article is for the information of the reader. The reader assumes all risk and is encouraged to utilize these suggestions with discretion.