From hot baths to heating pads to hot water bottles, heat therapy is a well-known remedy to help ease muscular pain.
ThermaCare
® HeatWraps have transformed the field of heat therapy in recent years by making it portable, safe and long lasting.
“The advent of therapeutic heat wraps (e.g., ThermaCare
®) has revolutionized thermotherapy,” wrote W. Steven Pray, Ph.D., a professor and author of the respected pharmacists’ guide, Nonprescription Product Therapeutics. (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006).
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Pray and other medical experts point to several principal areas where heat wraps such as ThermaCare
® have been game changers. The biggest innovation? Portability. One study published in the American Pain Society equates the benefit of a heat wrap with that of warm whirlpool therapy – but lets the user be on the go.
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“Heat wraps worn in direct contact with the skin … enable patients to remain mobile and active while receiving treatment,” reads the article called, ‘A New Look at Heat Treatment for Pain Disorders.’ (APS Bulletin · Volume 15, Number 1, Winter 2005). “As a result, patients retain control over their own care and pain management. This can increase both treatment time at home and allow them to participate in other activities.”
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The studies say other key innovations include:
- Low-level heat provided by heat wraps is safer than that obtained with potentially hazardous electric heating pads.3
- Heat wraps maintain the heat at a constant temperature over the 8-hour wearing time.
- Wraps can be worn during work or other activities so that the patient has an uninterrupted session of therapy.
- Sustained relief.
1 “Treating Sore Muscles and Tendons,” article by W. Steven Pray, Ph.D., D.Ph. Available at:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/533674.
2 “A New Look at Heat Treatment for Pain Disorders, Part 2”:, by Annie O’Connor, PT OCS and Bill McCarberg, M.D., FABPM. Published in American Pain Society Bulletin, Volume 15, Number 1, Winter 2005
http://www.ampainsoc.org/pub/bulletin/win05/inno1.htm
3 Bill, T.J.; Edlich, R.F.; and Himel, H.N. (1994). “Electric heating pad burns,” Journal of Emergency Medicine, 12, 819–824.