How to use ice massage therapy for back pain While any form of applying cold to the injured area—such as a bag of ice wrapped in a towel or a commercial ice pack—should be helpful, combining massage with ice application is a nice alternative for pain relief. Applying ice massage therapy To do ice massage therapy, a regular ice cube may be used, but it’s better to use a larger piece of ice. One easy way to do this is to freeze water in a paper or styrofoam cup, then peel the top inch or two of the cup to expose the ice surface. Someone else can give the ice massage, with the patient lying on his or her stomach in a comfortable position with a pillow under the hips to keep stress off the back. Patients can also give themselves ice massages by lying on their side. Guidelines for ice massage therapy For optimal results, ice massage therapy should be gently applied to the lower back as follows: Apply the ice gently and massage in a circular motion Focus the ice massage therapy on the six-inch area of the back where the pain is felt Avoid applying the ice massage directly on the bony portion of the spine Limit the ice massage therapy to about 5 minutes at a time (to avoid an ice burn) In general, one should never apply ice directly to the skin to avoid burning the skin. However, with ice massage therapy it is okay to apply the ice to the skin because the ice doesn’t stay in one place for long. The key to ice massage therapy is to achieve numbness in the area of injury without burning the skin. Once this ‘numbness’ has been reached, gentle, minimal stress movements can be made. When the numbness has worn off, the ice massage can be applied again for another cycle.  Ice massage therapy can be repeated two to three times a day.