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A simple heating pad can bring effective relief for numerous pains and aches in your body. That is why heating pads have become so popular in this day and age. But is a heating pad good while you are pregnant? This article provides information on whether you can use a heating pad while pregnant.

Heat treatment has been proven to ease chronic aches and pains in the body for many decades. Heat therapy loosens the muscles and increases the blood flow in the area. It also stimulates the sensory receptors in the skin to make you feel the necessary relief. It decreases the stiffness of the muscles in the area.

Using heat is a common and effective method of treating various muscle pains in the body. The method is non-invasive and non-addictive. You may experience numerous aches and pains in the body while you are pregnant. Heat therapy can be one of the most effective techniques of healing such aches and pains. Painkillers are not recommended to treat these aches and pains when you are pregnant. Hence, you should consider heat therapy to heal these aches and pains while you are pregnant.

Don’t Use Just Any Heat Pad When Pregnant

If the thought of being pregnant and sending heat signals into your muscle tissues though the means of a heating pad frightens you. Then I highly recommend you consult your Doctor. You Doctor will give you the best possible advice when it comes to treating muscle aches related to pregnancy.

The best heating pad I found when pregnant was the moist electric heating pads. This is becasue the moisture or steam won’t burn your skin which can get sensitive when pregnant. But also because with an electric heating pad you can 100% control the temperature of the pad. You never want it too hot that it can affect the baby. So choosing a low setting on an electric heating pad give you the full control.

What Heating Pads To Avoid When Pregnant

This is my personal experience and one that I wish to share. I wouldn’t encourage you to use infrared heating pads when pregnant. This is because they are the best kind of heating pad because they send infrared rays much deeper into the affected muscles. But with the risk of heating up areas where Baby resides, it’s not worth the risk.

Can You Use A Heating Pad On Your Back When Pregnant?

The strain of carrying a baby for nine months can affect the lower back especially. While it is tempting to use a microwavable heating pad, I recommend doing so wisely. As you have somewhat control over how hot it can get, there’s no way to monitor the actual temperature. It’s harder to keep a microwave pad at ‘low’ temperature setting than an electric pad. Again, a moist heating pad for the lower back would be ideal in this situation.

 

Is It Safe To Use Heating Pads During Pregnancy

In my experience, I found it safe to use heat therapy such as heating pads to target all sorts of aching joints and muscles while pregnant. But by using the right pads and monitoring how hot they got to ensure no ‘extra heating’ was available. Mainly the lower back, neck and shoulders are the areas that needed attention. Never do I recommend using a heating pad on your belly for obvious reasons.

How Heating Pads Help During Pregnancy

Heat opens the blood vessels and increases the blood flow. It brings a fresh supply of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles. This will help reduce joint pain and soreness of the muscles. The warmth of the heat pack will improve your range of motion over time. It will help decrease muscle spasms too.

 

In fact, it is an effective method of pain relief during pregnancy. A heating pad won’t increase the core temperature of your body. Hence, there is no problem in using such a pad to relieve aches and pains while you are pregnant. But there are many things that you need to adhere to when applying a heating pad for aches and pains while you are pregnant.

Tips For Using A Hating Pad Safely While Pregnant

• Don’t apply the heating pad directly to the skin. Wrap it in a thin towel or use the pad on your clothing. Alternatively, use a moist heating pad to keep the skin from drying out.
• Avoid falling asleep while using the heating pad. This is important regardless of whether you’re pregnant or not.
• If there are many settings on the control panel, make sure you use the lowest setting while you are pregnant.
• Don’t apply the heat for more than 20 minutes at a stretch.
• Use a regular heating pad instead of far infrared heating pads while you are pregnant.

 

 

About The Types Of Heat Pads Available

Heating pads are designed to be used for brief periods of time – most of the time for 30 minutes at a stretch. They heat the affected muscles and improve circulation to the area. This helps promote faster healing. There are regular and far infrared heating pads on the market today.

The regular pad can be plugged into the wall and placed in the affected muscle group. They come with settings such as low, medium, and high on the control pad. These are the pads that most patients use, and they work for almost any situation.

On the other hand, far infrared pads use far infrared (FIR) heat instead of radiant heat. These pads are expensive compared to the regular ones. But they are great if you are dealing with a chronic pain or ache. FIR pads are made of jade stones that are embedded in mesh packaging. They can be plugged into the wall and come with controllers similar to the regular pads.

They allow the user to set a specific temperature and are most sophisticated than the regular pads. The heat from jade stones penetrates the skin more than radiant heat. The infrared heat goes about 2-3 inches into the tissue. This makes FIR pads more effective when dealing with aches and pains that are far deeper than the skin surface.

If you have any questions about the safety of a specific heating pad, you should speak to your health care provider before using it. On the other hand, it is better to avoid using the heating pad on your abdomen while you are pregnant. You may use it on any other area of the body just be sure to pay close attention.