Heat therapy is an effective way to treat muscle stiffness and pain. Heating muscle tissue increases blood flow to the tissues, which increases the supply of oxygen and nutrients to muscle tissue and helps remove toxins that cause pain.
The most common forms of heat application in the home these days are by using a heating pad or a hot water bottle. Some people can also take a lukewarm bath or shower. Some clients have told me that they heated up muscle tissue with a hair dryer.
Always be careful when applying heat therapy. You need to be quite hot to get good results, but you don’t want to cause damage to your skin. Please do not use a hair dryer as this will certainly dry out and could damage your skin. A heating pad is a good method of applying heat, but not the most effective. The heat must penetrate the muscle tissue without burning the skin. You should be able to tolerate the heat comfortably as you feel it slowly sink deeper into your tissues.
Moist heat is more effective than dry heat. Why? Because water conducts heat faster than air. Therefore, the moist heat will penetrate the muscle tissue more quickly and effectively. Not all of us have a hot tub in our backyards, although I’ve always thought it would be cool. Then what do you do? Well, a warm bath or shower can really do the trick. If you are taking a bath, consider adding good old fashioned Epsom salts to your bath. They draw toxins out of the body and therefore can really help cool down and relax muscle tissue. Try soaking for at least 20 minutes. If you use a warm shower, you can even try a massaging shower head. I got mine for about fifteen bucks. It’s not the most elegant in the world, but it really feels good.
A more portable method of applying moist heat is a trick we doulas use all the time. We call it a rice sock. It’s like the therapeutic herbal neck wraps I make or you can buy at body care stores. Only here’s the poor man’s version: take a big old (but clean!) sock. Fill it with rice. Tie a knot at the top. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Check that it is not too hot for your skin. If it is, wrap it in a dry towel. Place your rice sock on any sore muscles and breathe in the heat! Rice retains some of the moisture in the air, so when it heats up you get moist heat that you can take with you wherever you go.