Father’s Day 2024
Gift ideas for Father’s Day 2024 that celebrate Dad and support a healthier, ToxicFree® lifestyle, plus ways to celebrate together.
Chill With ICE TheraP Muscle and Joint Gel and Get Fired up With HEAT TheraP Muscle and Joint Cream
Ice or heat? When to cool sore muscles, when to warm them up, and how ICE TheraP and HEAT TheraP make both easier to use on the go.
Sometimes your muscles and joints just feel stiff, achy or sore. Chores and exercise, whether strenuous or low-impact, can leave you with stiff joints and sore muscles. And as much as we hate to admit it, simply getting older plays a part, too.
Raking leaves in the fall, tending a flower garden in the spring, keeping up the lawn all summer — everyday activities like these bring on that nagging soreness. When they do, you want something that helps.
The short version
- For a new injury, experts say choose cold. Sports medicine professionals don’t recommend heat for these injuries.
- Use cold after activity that tends to leave you sore or stiff, and heat before activity to warm up tight muscles.
- For ongoing, chronic aches, heat helps relax muscles, loosen stiff joints and improve range of motion.
- A topical gel or cream gives you the cold or the warmth without holding an ice pack in place or sitting still with a heating pad.
Everyday Aches and Pains
Experts tell us that applying cold compresses to sore, achy muscles helps ease the pain. Ice, freezer packs or even a bag of frozen vegetables help constrict blood vessels, numb pain, and relieve and calm inflammation.
Over-the-counter pain medication might help, too. Or a good topical gel or cream, applied directly to the areas that are sore and achy, might be just what you need.
Weekend Athletes: Ice, Heat, or Both?
We all lead busy lives, and weekends are when we unwind from the work week and get back to our hobbies and passions. Maybe you play in a flag football league, make an eight o’clock tee time at the municipal course, jog through the park, or spend the day hiking a new trail. Whatever it is, you do it for relief and enjoyment.
But accidents happen: a sprained ankle trying to catch a pass, a tweaked back muscle from a mighty swing on a long par 5, a strained calf while jogging, an aching knee on the trail.
Experts say that if the injury is fairly new, choose cold: use an ice pack to reduce pain and inflammation. Icing works, but holding the ice in place is inconvenient. An icy topical gel like ICE TheraP gives you that same cooling with more freedom to move.
Sports medicine professionals don’t recommend heat on these kinds of injuries. Instead, they say, apply cold after exercise or activities that can cause soreness or stiffness, to keep inflammation from flaring up. Heat can be applied before physical activity to help warm up muscles and make them less tight.
| Situation | Choose |
|---|---|
| A new injury, such as a sprain or strain | Cold |
| After exercise or activities that leave you sore or stiff | Cold |
| Before physical activity, to warm up tight muscles | Heat |
| Ongoing stiffness and aching joints | Heat |
What About Heat and Pain?
Chronic pain is so frustrating. It can limit your ability to go about your day comfortably, leaving muscles and joints inflexible and stiff. It has many causes, from an old injury or illness to arthritis, and the goal for everyone living with it is to manage it effectively.
Doctors recommend stretching exercises, staying active and practicing relaxation techniques. Heat helps, too: heating pads applied to the problem areas relax muscles, loosen stiff joints, improve range of motion and ease aching joints.
A warming topical cream like HEAT TheraP is another option — one that lets you keep moving instead of lying or sitting still with a heating pad against your body. A cream also absorbs quickly, and applying it to muscles and joints before exercise helps warm up and loosen tight muscles.
What Customers Say About ICE TheraP and HEAT TheraP
“I sent in my review because I have never found anything that works as well as ICE TheraP. I applied it to my lower back and felt so much better right away.”
— Joseph P., Austin, TX
“I keep the pocket size ICE TheraP in my pocket wherever I go and I apply it to my knees after my daily jog. It works!”
— Jenny V., Cleveland, OH
“So much more convenient than a heating pad against my shoulder! Soothing and I can stay busy and active.”
— William J., Tulsa, OK
FAQ: Ice, Heat and Sore Muscles
Should I use ice or heat on a new injury?
Cold. Experts recommend an ice pack for a fairly new injury to reduce pain and inflammation, and sports medicine professionals don’t recommend heat on these injuries.
When is heat the better choice?
Before physical activity, to warm up muscles and make them less tight, and for ongoing stiffness, where heat helps relax muscles, loosen stiff joints and improve range of motion.
Why use a gel or cream instead of an ice pack or heating pad?
Convenience. You don’t have to hold ice in place or sit still with a heating pad, so you can stay busy and active — and a pocket size goes wherever you do.
Product Spotlight
ICE TheraP cools and HEAT TheraP warms, for temporary relief of everyday muscle and joint aches wherever you are. Keep one of each on hand, or get both together in the bundled kit.
ICE TheraP - Cooling Muscle and Joint Gel
Fast-acting cooling gel for temporary relief of sore muscles and achy joints.
Price range: $3.90 through $10.15 · save 15% with Subscribe & Save
Shop ICE TheraP
HEAT TheraP - Pain & Joint Cream
Cool first, then soothingly warm—fast-acting comfort for tight muscles and joints.
Price range: $3.90 through $10.15 · save 15% with Subscribe & Save
Shop HEAT TheraP
HEAT & ICE TheraP Kit
Warm and cool comfort for muscles and joints, with a home size and a pocket size of each.
Original price was: $46.90.$28.14Current price is: $28.14.
Shop HEAT & ICE TheraP Kit
Warm & Cool Body Trio
Three ways to feel good after an active day: a cooling gel, a warming cream, and a cream that does both.
Original price was: $72.90.$43.74Current price is: $43.74.
Shop Warm & Cool Body Trio
