The effects of therapeutic forms of heat and ice on the pain threshold of the normal shoulder.

An investigation designed to assess and compare the effects of therapeutic forms of heat and cold on the pain threshold of the normal shoulder is described. Heat and cold were both found to raise the normal pain threshold significantly, the maximum effect occurring immediately following treatment. Ice therapy was more effective than heat, but following both forms of treatment the effect rapidly declined and after thirty minutes there was no significant effect on the pain threshold.