Q&A on the Benefits of Hot & Cold Therapy
Whether you’re a professional athlete or not, you’ve likely experienced discomfort in your joints or muscles at some point in your life that left you wondering if there might be something better than aspirin to improve the experience. You’re not alone. We spoke with former professional athlete, Jessica Duleba, about the benefits of Hot & Cold Therapy in our daily lives.
Q: When were you a professional athlete? What sport did you play and where?
A: I played Basketball Professionally in Europe for 6 years between 2014-2020. I played 3 years in France, 2 years in Poland, and most recently 1 year in Spain.
Q: Do you draw on your athletic background in your current role of Product Specialist?
A: Of course! I believe that is one of my major attributes to this role. These products at Homedics are products that I used on a daily basis as a Professional Basketball Player.
Q: What did your warm-up and recovery routine look like when you were a professional athlete?
A: I always started off my warm-up either by foam rolling, using a roller stick, or using a massage gun. I would then move into my mobility, then stretching routine. We were required to cool down after practices and games as well. Most of the time I would use my massage gun after because I was tired from practice and it was much easier to have a machine to relax my muscles for me.
Q: Did it ever include hot & cold therapy? How often?
A: Yes, it included both. Almost daily, but at least 5 times a week and usually multiple times a day. We practiced twice a day, morning and evening.
Q: What do you recommend using heat therapy for? Cold therapy? Would you ever use them together?
A: If I had a sore muscle or an injury I would use heat to get the blood flow going to the area in my warm-up. We were expected to perform even with injury or fatigue, so I had to use new and advanced technologies to decrease the time it took me to prepare myself and recover post workouts. Just using your typical stretching routine was not enough. I used cold therapy mainly post workout or on my off day, but I would alternate with cold and heat to regenerate the area I was focusing on.
Q: What differences did you notice in how your muscles and joints felt after using hot & cold therapy?
A: I was recovering much faster than my teammates. I was able to stay healthy longer and be able to recover from injuries faster.
Q: How is hot & cold therapy more helpful than/as helpful as other recovery techniques you’ve used?
A: Hot & cold therapy is more helpful because it regenerates the blood faster. Your lymphatic system is able to drain all the bad stuff easier from your body. There are a lot of studies* on the internet that show how much more beneficial hot & cold therapy is compared to the old fashioned way of just sitting in an ice bath.
Q: Do you still use hot & cold therapy in your day-to-day life? If so, for what?
A: Yes, of course I do. Just because I am not currently playing professionally overseas, does not mean that I have stopped working out and being active. There have been adjustments in my daily life of course, but we are all humans who are active in our day to day experiences. Even if you are sitting all day working at a desk, your back may hurt for example. Using a heating pad can do wonders to get the blood flow back in that area.
Q: Did you also incorporate massage into your recovery routine?
A: Being a professional athlete had certain perks, which depending on the team you played for, included that we had access to massages after games or on days off. But not everyone has access or the money to go to a masseuse on a weekly basis, or even once a month. This is what makes massage guns and other massaging products so helpful and beneficial.
Q: Have you used the HHP-850HJ with instant hot & cold Peltier technology? Can you speak to that?
A: Yes, this is a perk of being in Product Development. We get to try and use the new products before everyone else does. The hot & cold Peltier technology is a very cool feature to have. The fact that you don’t have to plug the product in to get heat and you don’t need to leave it in the freezer to get the cold aspect, and that you don’t need to switch products, is a game changer. A great use for this has been on my feet. Think of how many times your arches have been sore from either walking, or running too much, or having the wrong shoes on for too long. I can first heat up the area, use the massage gun on the bottom of my foot to get the tightness out, and then cool the area down to get that final bit of relief. The amount of different uses you can have out of a product like this… like I said, makes it a game changer.
Medical Disclaimer: This content is provided for informational purposes only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Bio
Jessica Duleba played basketball professionally for 6 years from 2014 to 2020. She has played in France, Poland, and most recently in Spain. Now a product specialist, she has helped bring our Hot & Cold Therapy collection to life and notes the 12” x 24” Weighted Gel Heating Pad as her most used from the collection.
Medical Disclaimer: This content is provided for informational purposes only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
