Heat therapy is the application of heat to the skin, which reaches the body to varying depths depending on the method. This primarily has a relaxing, circulation-promoting and thus metabolism-stimulating and pain-relieving effect.

The methods of heat therapy available to us so far are:

• Hot roll: A tightly wrapped towel that is soaked with boiling water. It can be used to heat medium to large areas of the body by unrolling the towel more and more and releasing its heat. In this way, either a larger area can be warmed for a shorter time or a smaller area can be warmed constantly. The water contained in the towel conducts the heat through the superficial muscles into the deep structures of the body. This method is very suitable as a preparatory measure for the treatment of tense muscles, e.g. in the area of the entire spine. It can also be used on limbs to treat the muscles, tendons and joints, e.g. in cases of arthrosis or tendon damage.
• Heat cushion: A cushion filled with a heat-storing material is heated to about 60 degrees and placed on the muscles. It warms up the underlying structure, but does not reach as deep into the tissue as the heat of the hot roll, which is transported by moisture. This makes the heating pad more suitable for relaxation and circulation of superficial structures and can be used, for example, as a relaxing introduction to treatment and before massages.
• Heating blanket: Like the heating pad, it heats the surface of the body that is in direct contact. Due to its large surface area, the heating blanket is suitable for heating the entire corpus of the patient. This makes it a very good measure for preparing treatments, especially during the cold season, for relaxing long muscle cords as well as the respiratory muscles lying on the side.

Depending on the duration of the application, cold therapy has different effects.

It can have a circulation-stopping effect by applying the cold element continuously for about 20 minutes. All vessels contract and thus prevent the increased inflow and accumulation of blood in the tissue in acute traumas, such as blunt injuries, bruises and sprains. In addition to the vasoconstrictive effect, the application of cold suppresses the signs of inflammation, such as pain, increased circumference, redness and heat, because the substances required for this are transported more slowly through the constricted vessels and nerve guidance channels. It is therefore one of the first measures to be taken in the case of acute injuries or the first signs of lameness in joints, limbs and muscles.

Depending on the occasion, cryotherapy is carried out using the following methods:

• Ice lolly - ice in lolly form that is used in acute injuries to cool small trauma sites, or harder to reach sites, such as inside the fetlock bend or sites that are close to sensitive areas, such as the eye.
• Cool packs - Ice or cooling gel is used inside a closed bag to cool small to medium sized areas. As a cold pack, it cools targeted areas of the limb.
• Cold showers - With the help of a garden hose, large areas of the body can be cooled well. For example, after severe muscle tension, legs or gluteal and long ischial muscles can be treated with prolonged casts to relax the muscles.

Cryotherapy can also stimulate the blood circulation if it is applied in short repetitive changes with the ambient temperature. If a spot on the body is cooled for a short period of time, e.g. 2-4 minutes with water below 18 degrees Celsius, the body automatically reacts by heating the previously cooled spot by sending more warm blood to it ("Kneipp effect"). In addition to local blood circulation, this also activates the entire circulatory system. This measure is particularly helpful in cases of arthrosis (carried out on the affected joint), sore limbs, sore muscles and tension, tendon and ligament inflammation in the more advanced healing process (from the 2nd week after symptoms/trauma occur).