Thermal Wrap Reusable Hot And Cold

Hot and cold therapy is often more effective for many uses than any type of over the counter drug. It is recommended for many pain sufferers. It is a great alternative choice for those who do not want to take medicine or want to try something different if their bodies have become immune to any other type of over the counter medicine. The American Pain Society states almost 10 percent of those Americans that live in chronic pain that could be helped with hot and cold therapy. If you have a more serious illness like cancer or liver disease, you probably do not fall into this category, but if you do, it may be a great alternative to traditional medicine. Ice therapy, compressed gel packs, and hot cold packs can all help to alleviate pain in many cases.

Here are some common indications of those who would be most able to benefit from alternative therapy.

If you have hurt yourself recently with a muscle or joint strain or have any other injury that is causing any part of your body to swell up, then this is for you. Also, internal aching does not have to be solved with over the counter medicine. You can try hot cold packs for that also. The heat and the cold give your body therapy and realization that it needs to get you healed again.

There are also some chronic problems that can be fixed with compressed gel packs also. These include flares of pain, that come along with chronic conditions such as migraines, osteoarthritis injuries from sports, and other chronic illnesses such as fibromyalgia.

How to use hot packs:

The first thing to remember is that heat should be used for at least 20 minutes at a time. However, this is not the case in areas that have had radiation. How heat works is that is increases blood to the body and then it also send oxygen and nutrients to the places that are in pain. Heat works to relax muscles that are stiff and keep pain away from muscles and joints.

Heat therapy should not be used if you have any type of broken skin. Also, make sure the heat pack is not scalding and make sure to wrap it up in a towel to keep you from being burned.

Cold packs work a little opposite to heat packs. Cold packs bring relief to parts of the body that are in pain just like heat packs, however, cold packs should be applied for less than 20 minutes. This will also help spasms in the muscles and is extremely helpful with shoulder and upper body injuries. Cold packs can also be used to ease back aches and headaches. If you have a sprain or bruise to your ankle or your wrist or any other part of your body, ice therapy may be an option for you there. If the ice pack seems to cold, let it sit for a minute or wrap it in a towel to make the temperature comfortable.