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Thermotherapy and cryotherapy
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Heat therapy is an application in the treatment-and-prophylactic and rehabilitation purposes of heated media with high heat capacity, low thermal conductivity and high heat-retaining capacity. The main types of heat therapy are paraffin and ozokeritotherapy.
Paraffinotherapy
Paraffinotherapy is a method of local exposure by means of medical paraffin, heated to a temperature of 50-70 "C and applied in a certain way to the skin surface of the corresponding parts of the patient's body.
Paraffin is a mixture of high molecular weight hydrocarbons produced in the distillation of petroleum, with a melting point of 50-55 ° C; it is a chemically and electrically neutral substance. Due to the high heat capacity, low thermal conductivity, almost complete absence of the convention, paraffin does not cause burns even at high temperatures (60 "C and above).
Features of the action of paraffin are due to thermal and mechanical factors and associated pyroelectric and compression effects.
Main clinical effects: anti-inflammatory, metabolic, trophic.
Ozokeritotherapy
Ozokeritotherapy is a method of local exposure with medical ozocerite heated to a temperature of 46-50 ° C and applied in a certain way to the surface of the skin of the corresponding parts of the patient's body.
Ozokerite (mountain wax) is a rock from a group of petroleum bitumens with a melting point of 52-70 ° C; consists of hydrocarbons of paraffin series, mineral oils, naphthenic resins, asphaltenes, mechanical impurities, etc.
The specific features of the action of ozocerite are due to thermal, chemical and mechanical factors and the associated pyroelectric effect, chemical reactions (interaction with the skin of gaseous hydrocarbons, various mineral oils, asphaltenes, resins, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide) and compression effect.
The main clinical effects: anti-inflammatory, metabolic, trophic, desensitizing, vasodilating, spasmolytic.
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy is a method of local impact on certain areas of the patient's body by cold factors of various nature and form.
Physiotherapy considers methods of using cold factors that cause a decrease in temperature) of tissues not below the limits of their cryostability (5-10 ° C) and do not lead to a significant change in the thermoregulation of opranism, i.e., local hypothermia. Features of the factor are associated with a rapid decrease in tissue temperature in the cryoapplication area. Physicochemical processes are due to the pyroelectric effect, primarily a change in liquid crystal structures with subsequent conformational transformations. In these tissues, the intensity of metabolism, oxygen consumption and the speed of various types of membrane transport decrease, which in turn initiates the appearance of appropriate biological reactions and clinical effects.
The main clinical effects: analgesic, anesthetic, anti-inflammatory, spasmolytic, hemostatic, desensitizing.
Apparatus: hypothermic devices with circulating refrigerated cryogenic agent - ALG-02, Iney-2, Gipospast-1, Hypotherm-1, Cryoelectronica, Termod, Kholov 2F, Yatran and other; synthetic cryopacks, hypothermic thermal pads, point cryoapplicators and cryoprobes.
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