[Rathji]

I was in physio to help my knee a few years back and this is what I recall. It may not be right and I may have warped it in my brain for my own evil purposes (whatever they may be).

Ice reduces inflamation by reducing bloodflow. Swelling, the main indicator of inflation, needs to be reduced for your body to heal properly (and to reduce pain and to prevent further agrivation of the injury)

Heat increases bloodflow. Blood helps in heal damaged tissues. However as stated above, increased bloodflow increases inflamation so if there is swelling then heat can be damaging (or at the very least increase pain).

So to sum it up, and remember I may remember this totally wrong, if you have muscle damage you wont have much swelling and you should use heat. If you have tendon damage or damage that has alot of inflamation, indicated by swelling or general redness, then you want to use ice.

With my injury, which was MCL strain / bruise on the femur underneath the knee cap, heat was really bad since it would increase swelling, cause me more pain, and cause more damage to the area when I walked due to tissues being rammed/squished into places they shouldn't be.

With my back pain, if it is muscular, I would suggest heat. If it is tendon/bone/nerve related with alot of redness then I would suggest cold.

Since it doesn't appear you have been to an actual health care professional regarding this matter, I would probably go see a Chiropractor. The only thing a 'real' doctor is going to do is put you up on pain pills and bed rest to fix your back while a Chiropractor is going to fix any isssues with the alignment of your spine, give you a crazy massage and tell you to get alot of excercise to loosen your back muscles. To me the choice is clear, but one thing is certain a massuse cannot diagnose back injuries with any sort of reliablity, so even if you would rather see a doctor it is better than nothing.