Contralateral Upper Extremity Cooling from a Specific Cold Stimulus

Abstract

The use of cold applications to reduce spasticity has been restricted primarily to the patient’s affected extremity with minimal consideration for the resulting physical and psychological stress. This preliminary investigation on ten normal subjects suggests that specific cooling over a small surface area of the contralateral (unaffected) limb may provide the clinician with a new and more prolonged method of effectively alleviating spasticity while providing the patient with limited physical and psychic discomfort.