Sports Medicine Tips: Hot vs Cold Therapy

Sports medicine practitioners most frequently receive clients with all manner of injuries related to sports or following an active lifestyle. Many of these are common orthopedic injuries. Treatment for such injuries is often treated through cold or hot therapy. The two are different and therefore it’s vital to know which injuries can be treated by each.


Hot therapy.


Also referred to as thermotherapy, this method can treat many ailments. Heat is used to make the blood vessels dilate and open. This way, the soft and skeletal muscle tissues are able to relax with the increased flow of vital fluid through the blood vessels. In addition, there is an increased supply of oxygen to the injured part bringing about healing more quickly. Better still, the dilated blood vessels provide an outlet for the damaged cells as the wound heals. The ideal injuries that can be treated using heat can include chronic pain and one or two days old wounds. Caution should be exercised when using heat therapy since leaving the compress on the skin for a long time can result in skin burns.


Cold therapy.

As the name suggests, cold therapy simply means using a cold compress to treat various orthopedic injuries. Also known as cryotherapy, this method works on the premise that when a cold compress is applied on an injury, blood vessels constrict to encourage healing. Naturally, when one gets hurt, the body immediately initiates the healing process. Normally, blood is rushed to injured areas to provide oxygen and necessary nutrients. In addition, the immune system is triggered to send white blood cells to fight the wounded cells. In the process, swelling happens which can bring about pain and difficulties in moving the injured part. This is where cold therapy can help ease the pain and slow down swelling. Take care to not keep the cold compress directly on the skin.


Choosing to DIY or to see a doctor as far as sports injuries are concerned hinges on the injury's severity. If the situation is completely out of hand such that functionality of the injured part is hindered, that may be a pointer towards seeking assistance from a professional sports medicine doctor. Where the wound takes longer to heal, it is also advisable to seek medical attention.


In conclusion, with many injuries, seek the attention of your medical care specialist. For pronounced orthopedic injuries see a sports medicine doctor. However, if you prefer doing it yourself, be sure when it’s appropriate to employ either cold or hot therapy.

Remember to live life to its Fullest

Dr. Kevin Crawford

4110 22nd Place Lubbock, TX 79410

(806) 792-4329

Disclaimer:  This information is provided as an educational service only, and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice.  Anyone seeking specific medical advice or assistance should consult his or her doctor or orthopedic surgeon.

Dr. Kevin Crawford, Leading Orthopedic Surgeon in Lubbock Texas

Meet Dr. Kevin Crawford

As a leading orthopedic surgeon in Lubbock TX, and focused on minimally invasive surgical techniques, Dr. Kevin Crawford's expertise includes arthroscopic and reconstructive surgery of the shoulder, knee, and elbow with an emphasis on advanced arthroscopic techniques.  Dr. Kevin Crawford is the premier ACL doctor in Lubbock TX, with a high emphasis on ACL Reconstruction. In 2004, Dr. Crawford was asked to serve as a U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Physician. Since that time he has traveled the world to care for the athletes of the U.S. Men's Alpine ski team. Dr. Crawford currently serves as the Medical Director and Head Team Orthopedist for Texas Tech University Athletics. Dr. Crawford has been voted KCBD’s “Best of the West” in orthopedic surgery six times since the award’s inception in 2009, and has been named to the Texas Super Doctors list every year since 2009 (View Texas Super Doctor List).

Dr. Crawford serves on the Review Panel for the American Journal of Sports Medicine and the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery.  Dr. Crawford enjoys treating patients of all ages with activity-related shoulder and knee conditions. Dr. Crawford is a Lubbock native, having attended Monterey High School prior to graduating from Baylor University in 1987. He earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas, in 1992. He completed an Orthopedic Surgery Residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland Hospital, later accepting a Sports Medicine Fellowship with the prestigious Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail, Colorado. During this year-long fellowship he received advanced training in arthroscopic knee and shoulder surgery.  He returned home to West Texas to join the physicians of Lubbock Sports Medicine (formerly Lubbock Bone & Joint Clinic).

Dr. Crawford has authored several book chapters and been published in a number of peer reviewed journals. Professional interests include the use of biologics such as stem cells to aid in the healing of rotator cuff tear repairs. He has a Sports Subspecialty Certificate from the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.  He is a fellow in the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery, a member of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, the Arthroscopy Association of North American, and is a Diplomat of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Dr. Crawford and his wife Maura have three children: Kylie, Colin, and Cadan.

Lubbock Sports Medicine

Dr. Kevin Crawford, MD
4110 22nd Place Lubbock, TX 79409

(806) 792-4329

What's best between eating 3 Big Meals or Several Smaller Meals throughout the Day?

Diet question of the Year...  Is it more healthy and more apt to increase our metabolism (i.e., easier to lose weight) by eating several smaller meals throughout the day rather than three big ones?  Lately, we've heard lots more advocacy for the "grazing" strategy for our daily food consumption if we wanted to keep the weight off and increase our energy levels. I mean, have you've ever seen a fat deer?  Of course, we've all seen plenty of fat cows, and they they graze throughout the day, right?

Well... the verdict is in - at least for now - from the nutrition and fitness experts at Men's Health. Here's what they found. Wait for it....  there's no difference at all.  Really???  Yep, really!  As long as the daily caloric intake and nutritional value is the same, their study found no discernible difference between grazing and the conventional 3-meals a day diet. With that said, other studies have shown that smaller, nutritious meals throughout the day can have a positive affect on maintaining more consistent energy and concentration levels throughout the day,  as opposed to 3 Big meals, and feeling bloated and sleepy after each one.  Of course, we don't always have to eat like every meal was Thanksgiving Dinner.

So, Men's Health's finding was actually a positive one, because it supports whichever way we personally feel more comfortably eating throughout the day.  As long as we are consistent, and eat healthily, staying away from processed foods, sugary foods, GMOs, high fats, etc., and keep it natural with lots of veggies and fruit, then our health outlook will remain positively affected.

Here's to your Health!

Lubbock Sports Medicine

Dr. Kevin Crawford, MD
4110 22nd Place Lubbock, TX 79409

(806) 792-4329

ImPact testing, legislation changing how coaches, doctors detect concussions

By Nicholas Talbot

Stan Kotara stood in the middle of the room on one leg, holding his smartphone to his chest.

The concussion management director at Lubbock Sports Medicine was demonstrating the future of concussion testing. And for the most part, it seems alarmingly simple — the smart phone does most of the work as it measures a players’ balance.

But, there is far more to concussion testing than most people realize. 

The tests that athletes go through to be able to play again are more than reciting the alphabet backward or asking the time, date and location of the game. 

It has evolved into a scientific process. Currently, the most accepted form of testing across the NCAA and the University Interscholastic League is ImPACT testing.

“(ImPACT testing) does a couple of things for us. It helps us kind of confirm our suspicions that yes, a particular student athlete has had a concussion and it helps us track their recovery and then maybe as important as anything, it helps us determine when it’s safe for that student athlete to return to the field of play,” said Kotara, a certified ImPACT consultant.

Research cited by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons suggests that more than a third of college football players have had one concussion and 20 percent have had more than one.

The smartphone Kotara was holding in his hands was a technology that is currently under development. With the smart phone trainers are going to be able to measure a player’s balance and coordination after suffering from a possible concussive hit on the football field. 

“That is kind of new technology,” Kotara said. “So, we haven’t really quite implemented it just yet, but we are going to and that is measuring, a different area of our brain function. ... The ImPACT test measures our neurocognitive abilities, our attention to detail, our reaction time, your concentration ability, our working memory. This is more of the motor domain of our brain functions so that kind of incorporates our whole body.”

According to Kotara, it has also been proven that younger athletes are more susceptible to suffering from these types of injuries. 

“Younger kids, their symptoms of a concussion seem to linger on several more days than say a college player or certainly at the professional level,” he said. “Younger kids recover slower, we know that now.”

Still Kotara said he would not limit or ever recommend for parents to not let their children play sports. 

“Despite all of our latest evidence that we have now — and we’ve learned more about this injury in the last 10 to 12 years than the 50 years before that — There’s more about this injury that we don’t know, still,” Kotara said. 

There have been other technologies developed to help track and detect concussions and concussion-like symptoms, including devices in helmets and mouth guards that transmit signals back to a team’s training staff and coaches.

When a player gets hit the mouth guard or helmet sends a signal to a wireless receiver on the sideline in real-time so a trainer can be alerted by their laptop or smartphone.

However, Kotara said this has done little to curb the frequency of concussions. He believes legislation, combined with technology and knowledge will instead help diagnose and treat concussions. Part of that legislation requirement in the state of Texas is that every two years high school coaches must have documented training in the recognition of the signs and symptoms of a concussion. 

“Our treatment policies that are in place, that is required now by the state and it’s working,” Kotara said. “We’ve had several examples of some local high school coaches that have suspected something’s happened and … a kid’s pulled out and sure enough they’ve had a concussion. 

“So, it’s working.”

Lubbock Sports Medicine

Dr. Kevin Crawford, MD
4110 22nd Place Lubbock, TX 79409

(806) 792-4329