Heat therapy is an important part of physiotherapy. How does it work, what pain can it relieve, and what types are there? You'll find the answers in the following blog article.
What is heat therapy and how does it work?
Heat therapy is used as part of physiotherapy to treat pain and non-inflammatory conditions. The heat relaxes the muscles and thus helps against pain caused by tension.
Heat helps in several ways: it dilates blood vessels, supports the regeneration of damaged tissue, and reduces pain. Locally applied heat increases blood flow in the tissue, thereby lowering the concentration of pain-inducing inflammatory mediators and accelerating the removal of metabolic waste products. This alleviates pain and supplies the damaged areas with greater amounts of oxygen and nutrients, which help restore the damaged muscle to its normal state. When is heat therapy used?
Heat therapy can help with:
- non-inflammatory muscle pain and tension
- persistent nonspecific neck or back pain
- muscular tension
When is cold therapy recommended?
Cold therapy can also be beneficial to health. It is most often used for acute injuries such as sprained joints or swelling.
What types of heat therapy are there?
There are various aids that physiotherapists and specialists use to relieve pain.
Infrared
With the help of red light lamps, infrared light penetrates the upper layer of skin and is conducted as heat to the deeper layers. This promotes blood circulation and muscle relaxation.
Ultrasound heat therapy
An ultrasound probe is placed on the affected area and emits rapidly successive waves , which generate heat.
Heating pad
Cherry pit pillows or heating pads are popular in many households and are usually heated in the microwave. They promote blood circulation , but their effects are generally more superficial than, for example, therapeutic mud packs .
Hot roll
Two thick towels are tightly rolled together and soaked in hot water . Then they are slowly unrolled onto the area to be treated and pressed onto the skin in a massage-like manner.
Heat patch
A heat patch is applied to the painful area and warms it for an extended period. The heat penetrates deeply and promotes blood circulation and muscle relaxation for up to 12 hours.
Heat pack
In one form of heat therapy, a heat-retaining substance is applied to the body and pressed down. Therapeutic peat is particularly popular for this purpose .
What is healing peat and how does it work?
Medicinal moor mud is a purely natural product consisting of organically decomposed plant remains (peat). It is one of the oldest remedies and is particularly effective due to its humic acids and minerals.
Medicinal peat contains a variety of substances with pharmacological properties, as well as a wide range of minerals and trace elements such as calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and copper. Furthermore, healing clay has the property of retaining heat.
The combination of these substances and warmth helps with this:
- to alleviate inflammation
- to improve blood circulation
- to stimulate the metabolism
- to increase cell activation and thus activate the immune system
We especially recommend moor mud packs from Schweriner Heilmoor .
What are Schwerin healing moor packs?
A moor pack is a type of cushion made of medical fleece filled with healing clay. The foil on the back prevents the moor from leaking out. The heat carrier is placed on top. Schwerin healing moor contains no additives or preservatives. And the best part? It's suitable for both heat and cold therapy.
Moor mud packs are used in various facilities:
- Doctors' offices
- Physiotherapy
- Occupational therapy
- Clinics
- Rehabilitation centers
- hospice
- Beauty salons
- Wellness facilities
- and much more.
Heat therapy with Schwerin healing moor is also suitable for private use. Due to its natural components, it can simply be disposed of in the garden, on the compost heap, or in the organic waste bin after use.
In our shop you will find peat packs and heat carriers.
Heat therapy as a wellness application
Another popular form of heat therapy, offered primarily in spas, is hot stone massage. Accessories and massage hot stones can be found in our online shop.
The heated stones are placed directly on the affected areas of the body, for example, on tense muscles. They optimize blood circulation, thereby supplying the cells with more oxygen. We have already discussed this topic in more detail in a blog article; you can find further information there. We also offer ahot stone set , a suitable hot stone heating device , and an instructional video in our shop, which explains the various techniques in detail.
