Best Heating Pads For Arthritis

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Best Heating Pads For ArthritisHeat therapy is one of the best ways to relieve arthritic pain from the comfort of your own home. But with over 100 types of arthritis, how is one meant to know what are the best heating pads for arthritis?. There are steps you can take to find a heat wrap or device suitable for your arthritic pains. These steps are relatively simple and can help you find relief much quicker than buying just any heating pad. These steps include:

  1. Pinpointing where you feel the most pain. Because arthritis affects people differently, one product may not be enough. You may need to find a heating device that is specific for one area of the body and another to treat another part of your body. For example, Rheumatoid Arthritis usually affects multiple joints including the knees and neck. But the most common area is swelling and pain in the hands. So a unique hand heat pad would be relevant here.
  2. Always opt for infrared heating where you can. This is a special form of invisible light therapy emitted from the heating pad that penetrates much deeper into the joints and muscles. in some cases up to two inches beneath the skin. Infrared heats up inside your body and not on your skin, so burning is not an issue with infrared. Plus the heat generated from infrared light is hotter than traditional heat.
  3. When infrared is not available (as it is considerably new to the industry), opt for a heat pad that offers moist heat. Moist heat doesn’t dry out the skins surface and has less chance of burning you as it uses moisture with the heat therapy. But moist heating pads are not available for all types of heating pads unfortunately.

Heat Therapy For Arthritis In Hands And Wrists

Heat Therapy For Arthritis In Hands And WristsThe hands and wrists make up may little joints which contain cartilage that enable us to move our hands freely. But when someone has arthritis in the hands, the cartilage gets worn away. Commonly referred to as wear and tear arthritis, this condition can leave the hands out of shape and very painful to maneuver.

To help heal and increase blood flow to the affected joints while relieving pain, heat therapy is often the best option. This is where a hand heating wrap or pad comes in handy. I was recommended one particular brand for relieving pain in the hands caused from arthritis and that is the Active Wrap brand.

While there is a infrared hand wrap on the market, the Active Wrap came highly recommended by a friends Doctor. So it was my first choice naturally.

What I Like About This Heat Pad For The Hand

  • Works great for relieving pain from other conditions as well. Such as Carpel Tunnel, tendonitis, wrist strains, general swelling and much more.
  • Can be used for both cold and heat therapy. To heat you take out the gel inserts and zap them in the microwave. Simple but effective method of stimulating the red blood cells in the hand.
  • Not too bulky that it restricts day to day activities. Also being portable allows you to use it wherever you have access to a microwave.
  • Good size that should fit Women and Men. But not just fit, feel comfortable as well.
  • Very effective treatment that can produce ongoing results after recitative use. My wrists have felt better for up to 2 weeks after a good session with these on. Not a miracle cure, but certainly welcomed relief to any one who has hand and finger pain cause from arthritis and other conditions.
  • Being a heated insert you minimize the chances of direct burns on your hands which is very important for delicate skin.

Some Things I Disliked About The Active Wrap

  • Not staying warm enough for long enough. While I found the ice gel inserts provided cold feeling for longer, I found the heat to wear off after 10-15 minutes of use. Which is fine as putting the insets back in the microwave is not too much of a hassle. Getting the inserts a tad hotter than recommended helped keep the heat wrap warmer for longer.
ActiveWRAP Hand & Wrist Heat/Cold Therapy

 

Heat Pads For Arthritis In The Neck

It’s not uncommon for people over the age of 60 to experience neck pain and stiffness on a daily basis. Cervical spondylosis better known as simply neck arthritis affects a large percentage of the population. For many, the symptoms are barely noticeable, while for others, the pain and stiff neck becomes unbearable to the point where treatment is needed.

Neck exercises and stretches play an important role for neck strain. Often a doctor will recommend undergoing some physical therapy along with heat therapy to relieve the tight stiff muscles in your neck caused from the wear and tear of the neck vertebrae in the cervical spine.

A very good product for relieving stiff and tense neck muscles is this Therapeutic Digital Neck Infrared Heat device. The reason I like it so much is that it is more than just a infrared heating device that fits snug around your neck. It’s also a muscle simulator and massager. This device can give a great heat treatment to the joints in the neck affected by arthritis, while also relaxing the muscles in the neck through various massages such as pulse, vibration and a more intense motion for times when pain is at a high.

*For traditional infrared heating pads suitable to the neck and shoulder region Visit Here.

Why This Therapeutic Neck Device Is Good For Arthritis

  • The symptoms of Cervical spondylosis can include neck stiffness, pain, muscle spasms and headaches. What this therapeutic neck brace does is reduces these symptoms through gentle massage and infrared heat therapy. As mentioned earlier, infrared is the best kind of heat you can get. Its a natural energy from the sun which provides the benefits to relieve these conditions.
  • The device is wireless and comes with a back-lit LCD screen for easy control over your therapy. So sitting in bed or on the sofa with this device on is very simple to use with the controller. Switching between therapies and adjusting the settings to better treat your neck is rather simple. No messing around with cords and whether or not you need to be close to a power point.
  • Fits snug on your neck due to the elastic neck band. So no uncomfortable positions where you think the device may fall off your neck. This strap keeps it where it should be.
  • Much more than just a heating pad, this device is a therapy session from the comfort of your own home. The options this device provides makes you feel like you have just paid for an expensive therapy session. But without the expensive overheads of course.
  • The magnetic field therapy and electric pulse settings are quite effective. However, some people don’t like the electric pulses similar to a Tens Unit provides. But with this device you can choose the settings you want and keep it to a simple vibration massage while receiving the benefits of a infrared heating pad.
Canary Products Therapeutic Neck Infrared Device

 

Using Heat Pads On Arthritic Hips

Osteoarthritis of the hip is a condition that can immobile people as it can make walking extremely difficult. It’s not uncommon for arthritis in the hip to begin showing symptoms in other areas of the body first before taking over the hips. Areas can include the groin, thighs and even in your knees. The carticlage in the hips acts as shock obsorbers and when the cartilage begins to breakdown from the arthritis, pain is imminent.

Using a heat pad to target the hips can be a welcomed way to relieve this sometimes debilitating condition. Problem is the hips are a unusual shape and in an awkward area of the body to apply a heat pad. Most of the time you need to be sitting still to keep the heat pad in position.

A common solution to using heat therapy on the hips is via temporary stick on heat pads. Like the ones by Thermacare which have been used for generations. While they do work and do offer up to 16 hours of relief, they can be expensive to use over a lifetime as they are an item that needs to be bought over and over again.

An alternative to this is the Hip Pain Relief Wrap by NatraCure.

About This Hip Heating Pad By NatraCure

Using Heat Pads On Arthritic HipsDesigned by an orthopedist specifically for hip surgery and arthritis relief in the hips, the Hip Pain Relief Wrap is a long term pain relieving solution. Buy this heat pad once, and you have access to a heating device for your hips for as long as the pad lasts.

The pad itself comes in two sizes, small and large. Ranging in waist measurements from 20″ to 54″. So many waist sizes are covered with this product. The pad has a large insert that is designed to sit on your hip. This removable gel insert can be used for cold or hot treatments. So to heat it up, its just a matter of putting it in the microwave for about one minute. To get the most out of the heat source, make sure the heat is evenly distributed throughout the gel before inserting it back into the pouch. This will provide a longer lasting treatment.

What This Heat Pads Got Going For It

  • Very large gel pad!. Covers more area than typical hot/cold pads.
  • Contoured to heat either side of the hip. Works well on left or right side. The wrap itself is very sturdy and looks like it would last some time.
  • Don’t have to be stationary while wearing it. A great portable heat device for people with arthritis in the hips.
  • Maintains heat for a fairly decent amount of time. This is becasue of the larger sized gel pack, so by distributing the heat correctly before inserting into the wrap you get a much better result.

The Downsides

  • Does take longer to freeze due to being a larger pad if cold treatments are required
  • At this present time their are no replacement gel inserts. However, the price isn’t too extreme that another new heat pad wouldn’t go astray.
Hip Pain Relief Wrap

 

Heating Pads For Knee ArthritisBest Infrared Heating Pad For Knee Arthritis

Arthritis in the knees is commonly osteoarthritis which affects many people over the age of 50. However, it is not just a thing for older people as the knees take a fair bit of wear and tear during our younger years. So athletes, exercise enthusiasts and sports players typically grind away at the cartilages on a daily basis. IT Band Syndrome is commonly confused with knee pain as it generates in the knee region. So if you are a physically active person, check to with your doctor the possibility of having IT Band Syndrome.

Applying heat to the knees relaxes muscles and also can lubricate the deteriorating joints. Which can free up stiffness commonly associated with knee arthritis. Finding a suitable heat pad for your knees could prove to be very beneficial to your life.

Using an infrared knee heat wrap on the knee will send heat directly into the root of the problem. This will allow blood to circulate better and provide nutrients the body needs to heal these muscle spasms and painful joints. Because infrared energy can penetrate up to 2 inches under the skin, you get much better results. Especially in the knee as it is not an overly thick region.

Best Heating Pads For Whole Body Pain Relief

Arthritis in general is most noted for its ability to cripple joints. But it’s also known to cause pain to the whole body. Rheumatoid arthritis can affect the whole body, organs included. Which can lead to a far less enjoyable life. Dealing with arthritis comes down to pain management. When pain is spread throughout the body, it can be hard to treat everywhere at once.

Using a full body heat pad can help relieve the unwanted pain spreading within the body. Again, a full body infrared heat pad is hands down the best therapy you can do at home in my opinion. But the very best of the best offers healing attributes like negative ions and Jade Stones.

This is exactly what the UTK full body heat pad offers. While it may cost more than what you are expecting, it sure can offer much more than you imagine. By this I mean full body relaxation and pain relief. This pad is simply the best thing I’ve ever come across.

How A Infrared Full Body Heat Pad Helps With Arthritis Pain

How A Infrared Full Body Heat Pad Helps With Arthritis PainWhat makes this UTK heat pad so good is the negative ions and Jade Stones that are embedded in the pad. Infrared heat is the best as described earlier, but one are where it can lack is even distribution over a large surface. This is why the Jade Stones have been implemented. These stones are great conductors of infrared energy. So they allow the infrared heat to evenly distribute over the whole pad. Resulting in a much better full body treatment.

Jade stones have a natural healing attribute to them as well. The negative ions come into play by minimizing the EMF (Electromagnetic Fields) level. Negative ions are a bit too sciency of a subject, but lets just say they are what omit from natural scenic places like the beach, parks etc. They bring a peaceful relaxing feeling to the body. Just think about how you felt the last time you took a stroll through a rain forest or went to the beach. This is negative ions at work.

About The UTK Heating Pad

The heating pad itself brings a lot of positive and healing attributes to the table. But what about the pad itself, what can it offer?. Firstly it’s FDA approved which is a very good thing when dealing with electronics. You will notice that not all products have passed the FDA audit. So be sure to think about why this has happened?.

The full body heat pad is also very versatile and sturdy. So it can be used in many different ways. Laying on top of or underneath provide full body infrared therapy while you can also have it wrapped snug around your hips and back the pain is residing there. Basically position this mat however you like to reap the benefits.

Controlling the therapy is done with a controller with basic functions. Whats good about the controller is that you can set it to automatically turn off. Up to a maximum of 4 hours. So you will never leave it on by accident for too long and cause harm. Also the memory function is pretty handy for keeping the best temperature settings for your needs set. Overall there really is nothing to fault with the UTK, it even comes with a handy little carry case. While the price may be high, it certainly is worth its weight in gold.

UTK- Full Body Jade Far Infrared Heating Pad

 

Choosing A Heating Pad When You Have Arthritis

When you suffer from any form of pain, finding relief is at the forefront of your mind. With arthritis, it’s an ongoing battle. So finding relief that actually works is like finding pure gold. The above heating pads are designed specifically to treat pain and provide relaxation to certain areas of the body where arthritis is prominent. Using these tools to help assist in a better life is something that needs to be maintained over long periods. Don’t expect miracles from just one use. Be persistent on finding relief and hopefully you will get the result you desire.

  1. Hi,
    My mother is plagued with arthritis so anything I can find to help ease her pain is wonderful. I especially like the idea of the heating pads for the hands and wrists. I notice that the Active Wrap doesn’t cover the hand to the second joint in the fingers. I understand that this would be for ease of use. Do you know of another glove-like product that you could recommend to cover this second joint? My mom is retired so she could easily spend 10-15 idle while the heat works its magic.
    Maybe this “glove” isn’t necessary since any heat to the hands would help?
    I’d really appreciate your feedback about this.
    Thanks!
    Amy

    • Hi Amy if your Mom needs to heat the fingers, a full glove like heat pad would be ideal. The only problem with these are that they are more like mitts and do restrict your hands. But as you said, your Mother could easily sit still for 15 minutes to let heat do the trick. On Amazon you can pick up a USA made hand heating pad by MyCare Heating Pad. Hope this helps.

  2. I wa surfing the net and came across your website. My grandfather has arthritis and just seems like it’s getting worse for him. We couldn’t go fishing last weekend and I know it must be killing him. Fishing is all he’s done since he was a kid. Anyways, I sent a link to him about the heating pad. I’m sure this will help him out. Thanks for a great article.

    Jack

    • Hi Jack, I hope your Grandfather is doing OK. It must be very frustrating to not be able to do the things you love. I hope he finds some much welcomed relief from any heating source available.

  3. Thanks for putting together such a thorough review. My aunt suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and lower back pain and has a hard time reaching around to get a heating pad onto her back. Is there one like the hip belt that could slide around and attach to keep heat on one’s lower back?

    • Hi Doug, thanks for bringing this up. You’re absolutely right. The type pf heating pads your Aunt would best benefit from are ones suited to the lower back found here. These can be worn like a belt as you stated. However, with heat pads that are flexible, you can position then in the couch for example and then sit down so that your back is against the pad. Thanks for stopping by Dr.

  4. Hey,
    Love the article on heating pads for arthritis this is just what I was looking for, I am a war veteran and have arthritis in both of my knees and the pain is felt early in the morning and after a long day of hard work. So, I have been looking for something that can work for me. I was thinking of either a wrap or pad for the knee, what do you think? Please let me know, and I really found the article very helpful for my conditions.
    Thank you,
    JesusB

  5. I really liked your article. I had no idea there were so many different heating pad options for different parts of the body. I am a personal trainer and horse trainer who periodically suffers from muscle aches and pains and I can see these products as being beneficial to me. After reading your blog I also sent your website link to a client of mine in his 70s who has chronic neck pain.

    • Absolutely Stacey. I can imagine you get all sorts of muscle injuries from training horses and being a personal trainer. Some heating pads can be used for multiple areas of the body, but the more specific heat pads do a better job. For example a neck and shoulder heat pad. Thanks for your kind words.

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