One of the most common mistakes people make when they have back pain is to put a moist heat on an area that they shouldn't.
The general guidelines are as follows:
You can never do any harm trying Ice first (provided you don't leave it on longer than 20 min before letting the area warm up).
If the pain is sharp and/or severe use ice (15-20 min on and 1 hour off) and never use heat (until the severity of the pain diminishes).
If you have a noticeable loss of motion in any direction, only use ice (this indicates inflammation of a joint).
If you have a pain that is a mild ache associated with some stiffness, it is likely muscular and heat could be applied to the are.
Heat sooths sore achy muscles, but putting it on an area of inflammation is like trying to put out a fire by throwing gasoline on it. Heat encourages blood flow and increases inflammation.
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