Heat therapy

Who does not know the beneficial effect of a hot water bottle on a sore stomach? That is too Heat therapy. The healing effect of heat is one of the oldest medical discoveries. Among other things, it helps to alleviate pain or to relieve cramps and has a positive and healing effect on various diseases.

What is heat therapy?

Heat therapy is the supply of heat to the body. As a rule, heat therapy is applied to specific areas, such as joints, muscle groups or organs. Various media are used that give off the heat, such as red light lamps, warm air, moor packs or hot wraps.

The warmth causes the blood vessels to expand in the affected areas in the body and thus better blood circulation. The muscles relax as a result and the nerves conduct heat into the pain center. Certain chemical processes then take place there that reduce the sensation of pain.

The metabolism is stimulated by the heat therapy and waste products from the body are removed more quickly. When the whole body is warmed up, it is called therapeutic hyperthermia, a special treatment method in cancer treatment. This method has a different mechanism of action and does not belong to the field of heat therapy.

Function, effect, application & goals

The Heat therapy is applied in several ways. The simplest and best-known forms are the hot water bottle, the grain pillow heated in the oven, the electric heat pillow or moist, hot envelopes. All of this can be conveniently used at home, for example for abdominal pain, menstrual cramps or muscle tension and joint pain.

But warm foot or arm baths also belong in the heat therapy category. Warm steam baths help with colds, especially if the sinuses are blocked. Another method is irradiation using a special infrared lamp. This gives off heat which is able to penetrate the body tissue without direct contact with the respective body parts. Red light irradiation is used for colds, for pain relief, for muscle tension, for rheumatic complaints or to break down fat cells.

The application of red light can easily be done at home. However, it is important to keep the lamp at a sufficient distance from the body to avoid burns and to protect the eyes. Children in particular should always wear special protective goggles during irradiation, as the depth of penetration of the heat rays is greater than the thickness of the eyelid and the eye can be damaged.

Heat therapy in the form of mud or mud packs is carried out in physiotherapy practices before massages to loosen up the muscles. Fango, healing earth, moor or mud are materials that can store heat for a very long time and also contain valuable minerals. The warm wraps expand the blood vessels in the skin and the minerals can be easily absorbed by the body.

Heat therapy improves blood circulation and so the minerals in the bloodstream can be better transported into the body, where they develop their healing properties. The compresses are usually left on the body for 45 minutes; after heat therapy, a rest period of around 30 minutes should be observed.

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Risks, side effects & dangers

So effective that Heat therapy also is, but in certain cases it may not be used. No heat should be applied to any inflammatory processes in the body, as well as bleeding, fever and infections and severe circulatory disorders.

Diabetics need to be very careful when using heat therapy because they often have decreased sensitivity. As a result, there is a risk that they will not recognize treatment that is too hot and cause burns or other damage to their body. Some people may experience side effects such as headache, dizziness, nausea or even fainting during heat therapy. In this case, the heat therapy should be stopped as soon as the symptoms start and a cold treatment, such as cold casts or compresses, should be counteracted.

Epileptics should also avoid heat therapy, as there is a possibility that the heat can make the disease worse. Heat therapy should also not be used in tuberculosis.

Hot water bottles & grain pillows