Heat is recommended to decrease chronic pain, relax muscles, and for pain relief.
There are two main types of heat therapy: dry and moist heat.
- Dry (conducted) heat includes heating pads, heating cushions, or gel packs. Dry heat offers fast heating time, consistent temperatures, ease of use, portability, and convenience.
- Moist (convection) heat treatments can include steamed towels, hot water bottles, hydrocollator packs, hot baths, or moist heating packs. We use moist heat because it penetrates deeper into muscle tissues, achieving a higher increase in blood flow than dry heat. Moist heat also doesn’t dehydrate the skin as dry heat can.
Heat should not be used with an acute or “new” injury.
