2 Easy ways to make your own heating pad at home

Heating cushion or heating pad often used to relieve itching and pain in certain areas. Starting from the back, neck, to knees. You don't always have to buy it, you can also make heating pads with materials you can find at home. How to?

Easy tips for making a heating pad at home

As reported by John Hopkins Medicine , hot from heating pad helps improve the flow of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles. This makes the sore muscles recover faster.

In addition, heat stimulates the skin's sensory receptors and reduces muscle tension, making you feel more comfortable.

You can make your own heating pad so that your sore muscles can quickly subside without leaving the house.

1. Make a hot pillow in the microwave

Source: Medical News Today

One way to quickly and easily make a heating pad is to use a microwave. Heating pad This one can last up to 20 minutes of heat.

Here are the ingredients and the steps for making them.

Material:

• 2 hand towels
• One plastic ziplock packaging (has a zip to secure the items inside)
• Microwave

How to make:

1. Start by wetting both towels with water and wringing out excess water on the towels until they feel damp.
2. Place one of the towels in a ziplock bag and leave it open.
3. Place the bag of towels in the microwave and heat for 2 minutes.
4. Carefully remove the ziplock from the microwave, as the heat can injure your hands.
5. Close the ziplock zipper and roll another wet towel outside of the ziplock bag.
6. Place a heating pad on the affected area.

2. Make a heating pad with rice

Source: Instructables

Apart from using water and a microwave, it turns out you can also make heating pad with the help of rice.

However, it is different from the first way. This one method uses an unused socks instead of "pads". The following is a list of ingredients and the steps for making them.

material:

• Unused socks, the bigger the better.
• Rice to taste.

How to make:

1. First, fill the sock with rice and leave space at the top.
2. Cover or tie the rice-filled sock with a rubber or string that will hold the rice out of it.
3. Put it in the microwave and heat it for 2 minutes.
4. Remove it from the microwave carefully.

Once removed from the microwave, this heating pad can be placed on your neck or shoulders.

If you still need the heating pad of the sock but it has cooled down, you can reheat it in the microwave for 1 minute.

You just have to choose which method is easiest to make a heating pad.

The risk of using a heating pad

The heating pad may not cause serious conditions. However, it's important not to use it as soon as you get injured.

Heat from heating pad it will actually make tissue injury worse and lead to swelling. Therefore, it is not recommended that many heaters be used immediately after an injury.

Instead, what is more recommended is to use a cold compress to reduce swelling.

In addition, children, the elderly, and people who are sensitive to heat are not recommended to use heating pad as thermotherapy.

In fact, this rule also applies to people with neuropathy and diabetes who may not be able to feel a sudden hot sensation.

Homemade heating pillows are indeed more economical in comparison heating pad which is sold in the market.

However, if the pain or muscle cramps don't go away and get worse, it's best to see your doctor for proper treatment.