Cool Pad in Freezer

[songbird7]

Sometimes a cool pad in the freezer inside a small towel placed over painful/pressure area for 15 minutes is helpful to me. I alternate between heat and ice sometimes. Unpredictable which will work. I've found heating pad good for retention flare and for me, able to let a better urine flow happen. I speak only from my own experience.
May everyone here experience gentle healing.:angel:

[Briza]

Excellent suggestion!:), and something that I use very often as I respond better to cold therapy than heat therapy. I do use heating pad for back pain sometimes, but most times I need cold to calm down my symptoms....I am guessing my symptoms are most often caused by inflammation and that is why cold therapy is so successful for me. I use ziplocs of frozen peas or corn, I like those better than ice b/c ice is sometimes just TOO cold and bag will leak. My favorite though is a very cold can of soda (not to drink) applied between legs, rolled back and forth on my lower belly/pelvic region, and even sometimes on my lower back. The cold can of soda is especially handy when on drives (short or long) when symptoms appear out of the blue...I can always stop and buy a cold can of soda or big cold can of cheap beer that is kept on ice in some convenience stores...the key is to buy brand of soda or beer that you do not like so will not be tempted to drink!;)

Lately my biggest problem has been the pressure feeling when I go to bed....and I can most times use a cold pack of any variety placed on my belly/pelvic area to get the pressure feeling to go away and then I can sleep without having to take any meds. So for me cold pack is usually the first thing that I turn to and many times that relieves my symptoms enough that no meds are needed:)

[Angeles]

I use too cold packs, mainly for V V. I use the gel packs you find in the stores and drugstores.

I keep all of them in diff ziploc bags in the freezer, so they are ready to go. I sleep almost every night with them.

I have 3 sizes:

a large blue one for better "coverage".

a round flat one (with the face of Cinderella on it -lol ) that I got at the store, it is for kids wounds. The size is perfect and so confortable b/c itis round.

and the little ones...yeah those are blue ice to be cut the size you want, sometimes I use them as pads. They don't last very long though, melt rather quickly 10 min or so. I just repalce them bc I have a bunch of them.

Everytime I wrap them on whithe cotton cloth which I also cut in different sizes. I buy baby gerber washable diapers 100 % cotton. You can cut them and you find a perfect, already made, pocket where you can just insert your ice or cold pack!
You can just wash the cloth after each use and reuse (well put it in the basket and wash them with my linen). VERY practical.

On the belly, heat pad.....never tried cold on the belly.
I hope it helps.

[laconmcarthur]

The can of soda sounds like an amazing idea...I did so well today when i had my cysto-hydro done...but I am in severe pain right now... which is why I am on the computer at 2 AM mississippi time. I was sleeping but my pain meds wore off and I took my second antibiotic pill and antibiotics just make me feel horrible. I am waiting on my pain meds to kick in...Antibiotics always make me stay REALLY REALLY hot...like sweat so bad I have to change clothes hot...I've been on the heating pad for a little while today to try to prevent pain and I was scared to use ice in a ziploc bag because I don't want it to leak in my bed...So the canned soda idea is exactly what I'm about to try... I suppose it will help with Cysto-hydro pain, at this point I think anything would.

[ICNDonna]

I keep a bag of frozen peas in my freezer. It makes an excellent cold pack. (We do NOT eat frozen peas). :)

Donna

[laconmcarthur]

Excellent suggestion!:), and something that I use very often as I respond better to cold therapy than heat therapy. I do use heating pad for back pain sometimes, but most times I need cold to calm down my symptoms....I am guessing my symptoms are most often caused by inflammation and that is why cold therapy is so successful for me. I use ziplocs of frozen peas or corn, I like those better than ice b/c ice is sometimes just TOO cold and bag will leak. My favorite though is a very cold can of soda (not to drink) applied between legs, rolled back and forth on my lower belly/pelvic region, and even sometimes on my lower back. The cold can of soda is especially handy when on drives (short or long) when symptoms appear out of the blue...I can always stop and buy a cold can of soda or big cold can of cheap beer that is kept on ice in some convenience stores...the key is to buy brand of soda or beer that you do not like so will not be tempted to drink!;)

Lately my biggest problem has been the pressure feeling when I go to bed....and I can most times use a cold pack of any variety placed on my belly/pelvic area to get the pressure feeling to go away and then I can sleep without having to take any meds. So for me cold pack is usually the first thing that I turn to and many times that relieves my symptoms enough that no meds are needed:)



When I was about 10, me and my cousins, they are all older than me, were swimming in my grandparents pool, and my cousin behind me told my cousin in front of me to throw him a pair of goggles, well, she missed tossing them to him and whopped me a good one in the CENTER of my forehead...it looked like I had been hit with a hammer between my eyes. Needless to say, someone went to the store and bought an icepack bag thing...I have only used it once since then, but I went on a mad search last night and found it...I slept with it between my legs all night and I have felt sooo much better! it leaked a little on the side, so I may buy another one tonight. But I have found that cold therapy works 100% better for me than heat therapy. :hmm: Now if I can get off of my antibiotics, they make me feel horrible and I have been shaking and having chills and nauseated..I have to check my temperature every hour because the doctor said I may be getting an infection and I'm allergic to levaquin, macrobid, deoxycycline, penacilin, biaxin, bactrum and everything else they have tried to give me so if I get a fever I get to ride 40 minutes the ER where my urologist is...but hopefully I'll stop shaking and having chills. If they would go away I would be feeling like a brand new person. :woohoo:

[mary124]

I keep a couple of those blue-ice packs in the freezer. I alternate that with the heating pads. works for me.

[Mrsrea]

I was just diagnosed with IC a few weeks ago. I have slept on ice packs for the past 5 years for my back pain! I even have to sit on ice packs when Im in the car for long periods of time. Ice packs truly have saved my life! They have taken over my freezer and I hope to one day not to have to use them!

[Weskie]

I'm in nursing school, currently doing a rotation in pediatrics in a hospital. Our instructor told us how to make an ice pack for a baby and I thought I'd pass it on! You take a small disposable baby diaper and open up the end where the tabs are. You put ice cubes/chips in there and then use the tabs to close the end. You use the absorbent side of the diaper against your skin--no insulation required, and when the ice melts it doesn't leak. I haven't tried it but it sounded like a great idea!