You have woken up with a sore neck, thrown something, and hurt your shoulder or twisted your ankle, then gone straight onto the Internet looking for the best way to treat the problem.

These days, when we have an injury, we either ask Dr. Google, YouTube, or Tik Tok for a solution, and we are guaranteed to get thousands of options for what to do next.

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Pain Free Living Podcast with Bob Allen, your friendly neighbourhood osteopath and pain management expert.

Today, we’re looking at the benefits of heat therapy for sorting out your muscle and joint problems. Using heat is a natural and effective approach for pain relief, which can also help improve your flexibility and speed up injury recovery.

Benefits of Heat Therapy

Applying heat to sore muscles or stiff joints increases blood flow, delivering more oxygen and nutrients to the affected area and taking away inflammatory products and carbon dioxide. This helps reduce pain and joint stiffness, and relaxes muscle spasms, making it ideal for chronic problems like arthritis, fibromyalgia, and old injuries.

Heat therapy can be as simple as a warm shower, a heat pad, or a soak in a hot bath. By helping your muscles relax, heat improves joint mobility, making daily activities and exercise easier and more comfortable. Also, regular heat therapy can lead to significant improvements in pain and function for people with chronic muscle and joint problems.

Things to know before using heat

While heat therapy is generally safe, it’s not suitable for everyone or every situation. Avoid using heat on acute injuries (less than 72 hours old), areas of recent redness and swelling, open wounds, dermatitis, or infections, as it can worsen inflammation and delay healing.

Also, if you have impaired sensation due to problems like diabetes, circulatory problems, or heart conditions, you should get advice from a healthcare professional before using heat therapy.

Limit heat treatment to 20 minutes at a time and make sure the temperature is warm rather than hot to prevent burns. If you experience increased pain, redness, or skin changes, remove the heat source immediately and seek advice.

Takeaways

• Heat therapy is a cheap and effective solution for relieving muscle and joint pain and improving flexibility.
• It is ideal for chronic problems like arthritis, fibromyalgia, and old injuries.
• Avoid applying heat to recent injuries where there is swelling and inflammation or altered sensation due to problems like diabetes.

You can find out more about Bob and why he became an osteopath here https://bit.ly/BobsOsteoStory

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