What is Heat Therapy and Why do you Need it? – Suffering from muscle and joint pain is never fun and it can really wreak havoc on your everyday life.
Physical and mental health can be impacted severely by pain, but there are at-home solutions that can help.
Women Talking looks at joint and muscle care specialists Deep Heat, providing a range of thermotherapy topical solutions for muscle and joint pain as well as joint stiffness.
Physiotherapist and advisor to Deep Heat, Sammy Margo says: “These seemingly minor niggles can be incredibly annoying. Exercising incorrectly, or without warming up and cooling down, can cause it, as can poor posture, poor sitting and working arrangements, uncomfortable footwear and even excess weight.
There are numerous ways you can deal with general body pains:
A visit to a physio to help deal with a muscle injury can help you on the road to recovery. Yet, visiting the physio can be expensive, and it does require doing some ‘homework’, AKA devoting time to physio-recommended exercises as often as is required.
There are several other ways that Brits deal with pain:
- Rest
- Ice pack
- Warm bath
- Topical gels or topical painkillers
Applying heat is a great way to overcome pain, as ignoring muscle or joint pain could lead to problems later – and rightly so – Sammy reveals that heat therapy is a scientifically backed and easy aid to help relieve pain and soreness.
The lowdown on heat therapy (and the physio-approved product to try today)
Applying heat to sore muscles might sound like an odd concept, but there’s good reasoning behind it.
Sammy explains: “Heat brings more blood to the muscle and, with it, oxygen, and nutrients. Heat helps to improve blood flow to the affected area which can help reduce pain. If you’re dealing with
pain immediately after exercise too, heat therapy can boost circulation and reduce inflammation. Plus, heat therapy can relax tight muscles and soft tissue as well as help muscles to move and stretch more easily again.” Sammy recommends Deep Heat Muscle Massage Roll-on Lotion, which offers a non-medicinal, roll-on heat formula designed to provide targeted, warming relief to help ease tight, knotted muscles and help muscles heal, post-injury.
Need something that will last a little longer?
The Deep Heat Warming Belt is particularly useful for lower back or hip pain as it provides up to 12 hours of deep penetrating warmth to relieve muscular aches, pains, and tension. Plus, the Deep Heat Pain Relief Heat Patch is also a long-lasting, adhesive patch, which is drug-free, comfortable, and odourless, providing warming pain relief for muscular pain, strains, and joint stiffness.
For harder-to-reach spots, Sammy recommends the NEW Deep Heat Muscle Rescue Heat Spray which offers a non-medicinal complimentary Heat Therapy to help ease and soothe tight, tense muscles. It’s fast-acting and offers targeted warming relief thanks to including Vanillyl butyl ether (VBE) which produces a thermal sensation on the skin by activating a specific thermal receptor (vanilloid). Plus, the warming sensation in the New Deep Heat Muscle Rescue Heat Spray is enhanced by the addition of two aromatherapeutic ingredients – wintergreen and eucalyptus essential oils – to help ease and soothe tight, tense muscles. And all bottled up in the new climate-friendly aerosol containing 0% LPG.
Sammy adds, “Those seeking a more intense option should try Deep Heat Max Strength. It offers more than double the amount of pain-killing ingredient, methyl salicylate.”
4 Ways to Practise Muscle Rehab at Home
#1. Stretch regularly – Enjoying a quick stretch every once in a while, isn’t-enough, especially as we age, and our joints and muscles tighten. First thing in the morning is a good time to stretch to, not only wake up the muscles but also, energise the body.
#2. Turn to Heat Therapy
Heat therapy helps to increase blood supply to relax aching and overstretched muscles, re-oxygenating the tissues to help stimulate the natural healing process.
Try Deep Heat Muscle Massage Roll-on Lotion, a handy roll-on non-medicinal version, which combines massage with heat therapy to help ease tight, knotted muscles. It can be used before exercise to loosen and soften muscles, or after exercise to help realign muscle fibres and break down adhesions and scar tissue.
Need a longer-lasting option?
Try a Deep Heat Pain Relief Heat Patch. This is a long-lasting, adhesive patch, which is non-medicinal, comfortable, and odourless, providing warming pain relief for muscular pain, strains, and joint stiffness. It provides targeted pain relief right where you need it for up to 16 hours.
#3. The mighty massage
You don’t necessarily have to splash out on expensive massages; simply foam rolling at home is enough to ease aching muscles.
Foam rollers come in smooth or ridged varieties, and after just 10 minutes of rolling the tight area under the roller, you should feel the muscles start to ease. For sore feet and lower legs, try rolling a massage ball or tennis ball under your feet when you’re sitting down, and applying pressure as you roll.
#4. Perfect your posture
Back and neck pain are especially impacted by poor posture. For starters, check how you’re sitting when you work. Are you sitting upright on a comfortable chair with feet flat on the floor, forearms at a comfortable height on a table with your screen at eye level? When you walk, roll your shoulders back and avoid slouching and, at night, use a flat pillow so your neck remains in line with your spine.
It isn’t difficult to implement these simple muscle rehab hacks into our day; not only can they prevent pain, but they can help shorten the duration of time that we end up having to suffer, so we can get back to feeling ourselves again!
Poppy Watt