Warm compresses have been used in treatment for a long time. Our great-grandmothers warmed their cold feet with hot stones wrapped in linen cloth, our mothers put a hot water bottle or an electric pillow in the bed. All this to improve your well-being and chase away diseases or pain. What warm compresses should be used for kidneys, sinuses, spine, and which ones for stomach pain? Learn about the types of warm compresses.

Contents:

  1. Warm compresses - types
  2. Warm compresses - water therapy
  3. Warm compresses - peloid and paraffin
  4. Warm compresses - sauna
  5. Warm compresses in the home medicine cabinet

Warm compressesrelieve headaches, relieve rheumatism and kidney stones, sinusitis and neurosis, and most of all help in rehabilitation.

Acting locally - the heat heats the tissues directly under the skin. This allows the blood vessels to dilate and the blood to circulate faster. It reaches diseased tissues and supplies them with more oxygen. This is how the body's natural defenses are activated, thanks to which the pain subsides and the muscles become more flexible.

Warm compresses - types

In home conditions, sand compresses can be used. We sew small bags and fill them with sand or s alt. We heat it up in an oven or microwave and put it on sick joints or sinuses. However, you have to be careful not to burn yourself.

The electric pillow can effectively warm up larger parts of the body, e.g. the spine area, but not longer than for 1 hour.

If you have stomach, shoulder or shoulder pain, it is a good idea to put a hot water bottle on your body and cover your body with a towel.

The easiest, dry, home-warming method can be heat from a hair dryer. Direct the air stream to the affected area (do not put the nozzle directly on the body) and heat it for 15-20 minutes.

In many spa offices, you can take a bath in a bathtub filled with sand heated to a temperature of 40-45 degrees C. After such a session, you need to wrap yourself in a blanket and lie down quietly for half an hour for the body to regain its natural temperature.

If you are most bothered by rheumatic pains in your arms and legs, you can use a warm massage. UsedAdditionally, Aerodyn - a device that is filled with fine sand or crushed corn grain. When heated, the sand is made to spin. A hand or leg massage performed in this way gives very good results. The joints become more efficient and the pain disappears.

In a rehabilitation office and even at home, you can heat up with the Solux lamp. Armed with a red filter, the lamps bring relief in chronic arthritis, and the blue ones in neuralgia.

In inflammation of the sinuses, warm electromagnetic waves (short-wave diathermy) are used. Thanks to this, even to the deep layers of tissues, it selects warmth and soothes pain.

Warm compresses - water therapy

Warm water will bring relief to those suffering from kidney stones. A hot bath has a relaxing effect, facilitates the movement of stones into the bladder and further to the urethra. People who regularly use baths at 40-42 degrees C often get rid of smaller stones in this simple way. However, you should remember to refill your fluids by drinking mineral water or fruit juices when you start to sweat.

Baths can replace some exercises in the gym, because they improve muscles weakened by long immobilization in a cast. You will get a better effect when you massage the sick leg with a strong stream of water from the shower. The same can be done when we are plagued by muscle cramps, especially of the calves.

In classical rehabilitation, devices called centrifuges are used for this purpose. The warm water sets in motion and massages the limbs, bringing relaxing relaxation to the muscles.

In spas and some beauty salons you can take advantage of therapeutic baths, massages and gymnastics in pools with thermal water, obtained from natural hot springs.

Treatments are recommended for people with musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory system diseases and women with reproductive organs ailments.

Warm compresses - peloid and paraffin

Peat and paraffin are gaining more and more followers, and their beneficial effects have long been used in spa treatment to alleviate the effects of rheumatic disease, eliminate post-traumatic contractures and neurological diseases.

Peat compresses are also recommended for the treatment of certain dermatological diseases.

Not without significance, especially for women, is the fact that both paraffin and peloid rejuvenate the skin, help to hide the age visible on the hands and eliminate cracked skin on the heels.

Warm paraffin compresses (you can buy them in pharmacies) can also be made at home, for therapeutic purposesand caring. After warming up the paraffin in the pot, apply it to the feet or hands with a brush, wrap everything with foil and carefully cover it with a blanket. After 20 minutes, remove the paraffin husk and smear the skin with hand cream or foot cream.

Peat is used in the treatment of gastritis, back pain, rheumatism.

You can buy mud cubes in pharmacies. Crush them, add warm water to form a thick paste and steam it to 40 degrees C.

A thin layer of peloid is put on the diseased areas and covered with a cloth, then wrapped with foil and a warm blanket. Keep the compress for 15-30 minutes. After the treatment, we thoroughly wash the body.

Warm compresses - sauna

Being in hot air (50-60 degrees C on the lowest bench, 70-80 degrees C on the middle bench and 90-100 degrees C on the highest one) causes the blood vessels to dilate, the heart works harder to supply blood for capillaries just under the skin.

Thanks to the fact that the metabolism increases by 40%, we burn stored calories faster and with sweat we excrete toxic substances, e.g. heavy metals (lead, mercury, nickel). This way we relieve the kidneys.

It is a highly stimulating and immunizing treatment. However, it should not be used by people with a diseased heart, kidneys or circulatory system. Also suffering from hypertension, diabetics and pregnant women.

Warm compresses in the home medicine cabinet

There should be warming patches and warming ointments that can effectively cope with neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, and flu symptoms. But you can only save yourself in urgent situations. Before using a patch or ointment, you should always check whether you are allergic to any of the ingredients.

If you suffer from rheumatic or degenerative knee pain, you should buy special knee pads that warm your joints. You can also make such a bumper yourself from pure sheep's wool.

It is a relief to wear it on your naked body. If we have constantly cold feet due to circulatory disorders, woolen socks will be helpful.

Elderly people who do not move much will need the so-called warming shoe. It is an electric pillow in the shape of a double shoe.

In case of chronic back pain, it is worth using an electric pillow in the shape of a vest or a magnetic belt, which soothes neuralgia in the middle part of the spine.

All devices can be purchased at rehabilitation equipment stores and in some pharmacies.

About the authorAnna Jarosz A journalist who has been involved in popularizing he alth education for over 40 years.Winner of many competitions for journalists dealing with medicine and he alth. She received, among others The "Golden OTIS" Trust Award in the "Media and He alth" category, St. Kamil awarded on the occasion of the World Day of the Sick, twice the "Crystal Pen" in the national competition for journalists promoting he alth, and many awards and distinctions in competitions for the "Medical Journalist of the Year" organized by the Polish Association of Journalists for He alth.

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