Quiz: If you’ve just hurt yourself — for example, sprained your ankle or tweaked your shoulder hitting a tennis serve  — do you ice the injury or apply heat to it?

Or how about chronic soreness or swelling from conditions like osteoarthritis or lower back pain? What’s more effective: heat or cold?

These are questions many people have, and a surprising number aren’t certain about the answer.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative condition affecting the joints. About 27 million people in the U.S. have some form of OA, which is a breakdown of joint cartilage that can lead to pain, swelling, and stiffness. OA is a long-term, incurable disease; you can't reverse its effects, but you can learn strategies and options for managing your symptoms.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common neurological problem for people of all ages and activity levels. Learning to identify its causes, signs, and symptoms is key to preventing further nerve damage and the need for surgical intervention.

Swimming is generally a great form of exercise because it is aerobic and low-impact. This means it is easy on your back and spine. It can even be used to reduce back pain, as we will discuss in our next blog. However, in this blog, we are going to touch on the few ways that swimming can cause back troubles.

Have you been confused by back pain that comes even though you are doing a “low impact...