I've been taking a lot of hot baths recently because it feels really good while I am soaking in the hot water, especially in this winter weather. However, I've noticed that my body tends to get inflamed right after I get out of the water and it lasts for a few hours. Does hot water make us swell and get inflamed? Are we supposed to be using ice to lessen the inflammation instead? But ice makes me sneeze, especially in this winter weather. = ( What do you guys think about hot versus cold? Thanks for any input, Cindy
Hiya, Cindy! I take hot baths with Epsom salt and they really help me out. I notice inflammation and pain with cold stuff. I made the mistake of sticking my hand in the freezer to see the prices on turkey and hurt pretty bad afterwards. I think everyone is different? I know there are a couple of people here who said heat makes their symptoms worse.
Hope you have a superfantastic and comfortable day! I was told in arthritis school to avoid hot baths because heat promotes
inflammation, but I still take them all the time anyway. I put epsom
salts in which help inflammation, so I figure it evens out. Plus, hot
baths are good to loosen up any joint stiffness.
And they feel good.
The one thing that I have found in my short 14 months of dx is heat in the mornings I am so stiff and sore if I take a hot (really hot) shower first thing I can move a little faster with less pain than if I wait. It is hard for me to get in and out of the Tub so I don't take hot baths very often but I have a seat in my shower so it is easier on me. Cold anything is just pain looking for a place to happen with me. That is why I love Texas it gets cold but not nearly as bad as other places.
HOT and only Hot. I get Raynauds in my fingers ifi t's too cold. I always feel better after a Hot bath...Cindy, I notice that I am more stiff after a hot bath as well. Espically if I use the Epson saltWhen I get out of a hot bath all my joints just throb. I still take themHi Cindy, I'm CinDee too.....
I love to take hot baths as long as long as I am submerged, it feels great but when I get out.....ewww, I feel like I weigh a ton and I get real sore and sleepy. I use two heating pads and I also have a rice thingy for my neck. I can't stand the cold either.
take care
I like heat, it always feels good and especially in the morning when I am stiff, a hot shower or just running my hands under hot water helps me loosen up. Conversly, summer before last we had a trip planned to New Braunfels and I was worried about being in the river all day. The Guadalupe River is a fast flowing river in the Texas hill country that averages around 55 degrees and is a popular summertime spot for tubing and rafting. I thought sure I would be miserable in the cold water all day but amazingly I felt really great. At that time I was flaring constantly and was having a pretty tough time. I actually felt wonderful for days after that too. But that was cold water not icy water and even though I was getting in and out all day, it was also about 100 degrees outside...so I am not sure how to recreate that situation. It is different when it is cold outside and my toes get cold or something. Then they feel like they are going to break or shatter into pieces.Oh and you can still take tub baths? Those were soooo 3 years ago for me I can only take them when I'm not flaring, which sucks because it's during flares that I really want one. oh well, I guess that's what heating blankets are for. :) I do hot too - and always come out with all my inflammed areas bright red - but I feel better. At this point, I don't care, I like the feeling of the hot water for a 20 minute break each day. Take care - Cathy
I have always found heat has helped me, I have to use my OH to help me in and out of the bath though. I found Epson salts good but they make me feel really hot and sticky after bathing in them, I then need another shower!
Living in England it's always cold so i'm usually pretty bad, we went to California last year and the heat was fantastic it felt wonderful.
It's a shame no other country would accept me if I wanted to emigrate, i'd be too much of a drain on their health systems.........
What is Epsom salts? Dumb question?Definitely hot baths for me. In Florida, in the summer, I don't cave in and take too many, but in the winter, Oh..it's the best. Hot water just feels so good on my joints. Sometimes I just put my hands under running water out of the faucet like someone else said.If I take a hot bath and just sit in still water it doesn't seem to help much. However if I take a hot bath in a tub with jets that gets the water moving around I feel about 500x better after I get out. I have no idea why it works that way it just does. [QUOTE=Honey]What is Epsom salts? Dumb question?[/QUOTE]I love hot baths, and they help me so much that my doc prescribed a hot tub for me....it wasn't covered by my insurance, but it allowed me to claim the cost as a medical expense on my federal tax return. It's outside on the deck...and my favorite time to use it is in the dead of winter when my joints are stiff from the cold....it's like heaven!
Ohhhhh I am soooo getting my RD to prescribe a hot tub for me! LoL My parents have one and it is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S :)[QUOTE=amber]Ohhhhh I am soooo getting my RD to prescribe a hot tub for me! LoL My parents have one and it is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S :) [/QUOTE]
Amber you'll never regret it! We bought a CalSpa with 36 jets and we love it! Just last night hubby and I were sitting out there looking up at the stars on a cold night..singing Christmas carols. Ahhhhhhh I'm in the hot-bath-camp too. In the morning, I take a long hot shower, and it really helps with the morning stiffness. Cold makes me stiffer.
I take hot baths, at least once a day. I have a walk-in bathtub and my RD wrote a prescription for it so I was able to write off the expense. It does not have massage jets, but does have the bubble jets which strangely enough seem to be more therapeutic. I was reading an article about that recently, naturally I can't remember where. I love the jets in my Mother's hot tub especially on my neck, but for all over feeling better, I like my tub bubbles.
My LAST hot bath was wonderful until I got out and had terrible chest pains. I won't take one now or get in a hot tub. I have been ill all week so I have had to put off my stress test (they dilate the veins and put something in like adrenaline to see how my heart takes it) I am very scared as I get chest pains too often. I pray it is RA and not heart damage from RA
I did my resting heart test where they shoot the die up your veins and take pictures. I think it put me in a flare. I have not been able to raise my arms in months but so they can get a picture of your heart, they put your arm in a "resting" position above your chest. The technician forced my arms on the arm rest
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