Back pain, shoulder pain or neck pain can be quite common and frequent nowadays for certain people. You may experience this pain due to too much of work strain in the body muscles, old age problems or arthritic conditions. Often your doctor may prescribe heat therapy through use of heat pad to get relief from such frequent muscle pain or cramps.
Heat pads can be very effective in fighting your pain on daily basis
Heat treatment has been known since ages to reduce pain in various body areas such as shoulders, back, knees etc. A heating pad or hot pad is used for light warming of affected parts of the body to reduce pain. Applying heat to affected parts such as back, shoulder or neck areas leads to expansion of your blood vessels. Then, blood easily flows into this area, thus lessening the pain.
More blood flow carries additional nutrients and oxygen to the area, treating the affected muscles and reducing the pain. Warming the body part increases flexibility and reduces muscle stiffness as well, thus decreasing pain.
Various Types of Heat Pads
There are many types of heat pads available commercially in Indian online market. Most commonly used heat pads fall into 4 broad types: Electrical heating pad, Chemical heat pad, Microwavable Heat Pad and Hot Water Bottle or Bags. While all serve the purpose of reducing a pain, you should know about various types before you go about purchasing one.
In case you want to learn more, you can read our article on different kinds of heat pads you can use for getting relief from body pain.
What you should look for in a heat pad
In the Indian online market, there is a range of heat pads available at various price points for all kinds of common back pain, shoulder pain or neck pain. Most of the heat pads available in the market are portable; you can carry them wherever you go and use them when in need. When you buy online, be sure to check the size and shape of heat pads. There are pads which are more suitable for some specific part of your body, such as neck or shoulders. Mostly, however they are multi-purpose heat pads.
Top 9 most popular heat pads in India
Often choosing online which heat pad to buy can be utterly confusing and time consuming. To make your task easier, we have reviewed and selected the following heat pads (some work as cold packs as well!) for you to use. Apart from being sold by sound and reputed sellers/ manufacturers, these products are doing great sales in online platforms. These products carry good reviews and feedback about their quality and performance. Additionally, we have compared their features and have picked the best of the lot.
So if you are looking for a heat pad OR heat & cold pack for help in your regular body pain problems, then we are sure you will find something good and interesting here in this list. You can buy one for yourself or gift it to your old parents or seniors who may need them.
1. Flamingo – Orthopaedic Heat Pad / Belt
Flamingo is a well-known brand in Indian market and some of its products are available in few pharmacy stores as well. However you may be able to get the same cheaper online. Flamingo has been ranking among online best sellers in health & personal care category. This Flamingo electric heat pad boasts of imported heating coil element and 4 layers of insulation, which is pretty good in our opinion. No doubt, it has received good customer reviews.
This electric heat pad can work wonders in getting you relief from pain if you are having frequent backaches, sprain, muscular and joint pains.The heat pad comes in 3 sizes: mini, regular and extra-large; select the one most suitable for you or your family.
If your gynaecologist so suggests, women can even use this heat pad for getting rid of regular period pains (To know more on this, read our post regarding use of heat treatment to reduce period pains).
2. JSB H10 Electric Orthopaedic Heat Pad For Lumbar Back Pain Relief
Medical devices with JSB tag have been in the market for quite some time and they have a range of products including heat pads. This product is an electric heat pad which provides great heat therapy for pain relief. It is superbly designed for lumbar back pain relief and has a long belt to fit a wide range of sizes too. What is more, this heat pad has premium leatherette material on the outside, which helps it to hold the heat much longer.
This is quite an effective heat pad and we recommend this for people having severe back pain, especially older people suffering from back pain due to cold. An added advantage is that this product comes with 1 year manufacturer’s warranty.
3.Duckback Hot Water Bag
Also called Hot water bottle, by far this is the simplest, most affordable, durable and sturdiest hot water pad you can ever have. This comes from Duckback brand famous for waterproofing products including raincoats. Please note that this is a non-electric heat pad, meaning you will need to fill hot water inside and then use the same on body area having pain. But rest assured, it is made tightly water leak proof.
You may also use this as a cold pack also by pouring ice cold water inside the bag. (In case you wonder when you should rather use a cold pack, do look at our article here).
Being non-electric suits certain persons or some older people who may not be comfortable with electric pads. This hot water bag is also quite portable since after filling hot or cold water it can be taken anywhere in the house or outside.
4. Equinox Hot Water Bottle with Cover as Heat Pad
Another good product similar to the above is Equinox hot water bottle with cover. This has an advantage that it comes with a soft cover draped outside the hot water bag. Due to this, old adults and very elderly people may love this hot water bag for its smooth and soft feel.
Besides being leak proof and durable, this is an ideal pain relief product for stomach & back aches, joint pain, muscular cramps, muscle pull, arthritic and rheumatic pains. It comes with 18 months manufacturing warranty from the date of purchase.
5. 3M Nexcare Reusable Cold Hot Pack 4X10 (1 Box, 2 Each).. can be used as Cold or Heat Pad
This is a very good yet quite affordable product from 3M brand whose products are found in nearly every Indian household. Needless to say, it comes with usual 3M quality; you will find online product reviews to be quite encouraging. You may please note that this does not have a sleeve or strap for wrapping this. This is however not a big problem if you want to use it for a few minutes, while holding by hand.
Depending upon your specific case, doctors sometimes recommend ice pack for pain relief particularly for recent and fresh injuries. If you are wondering when you should use a heat pad or a cold pack, you can read our article first and then buy the right product.
P.S. In case you want to have a strap so that you can use this to wrap around affected body area such as knees or lower legs, then you can head over to our next recommended product.
6. ONYXNEO Reusable Hot and Cold Gel Pack
Here, along with the cool pack, you also get a free size multipurpose compress belt or strap, which you can use for tying on the back or around your knees. As a cold pack, this can be used for relief from pain, injury and inflammation, which may have been due to running, exercises or old age problems. It can thus provide relief to athletes and sports persons as well as old people. Hence it works great for sore muscles, arthritis pain, sprains, swelling and strain from impact exercises.
But are not we talking here about heat pads? No problem, you can microwave this pack or put inside hot water and use as a heat pad. And get relief from muscle or body pain. The straps make this superbly functional heat pad as wearing this you can go about doing your normal stuff at home or at office.
7. Nature Soothe Grain Filled Hot and Cold Body Wrap (can be used as Cold Pack or Heat Pad )
This product is called Body Wrap due to its flexible design and is both a hot & cold pack (can be used as both). The uniqueness about this pad is that it is filled with natural grains to provide soothing wrapping effect on aching body areas. These body wraps are ultra-flexible and provide nice wrapping for variety of pain areas of your body. We recommend this as a great premium alternative to electric or chemical heating pads.
Made of 100% cotton fabric, it is washable and will give you a comfortable feeling. Filled with natural high quality wheat grains, these bags have superior temperature retention properties. This can be used for getting relief from muscular pains, persistent joint pains, inflammation, muscle cramps, swelling, injuries, strains and sprains.
Since it can be tied, you can use this at office or home while you work. To use this as a heat pack, you just need to microwave this for 1-2 minutes and to use as cold pack, just put it in your freezer for a couple of hours.
These premium quality pads can make for a perfect gift of relaxation, comfort and warmth. Being chemical free and ‘’green”, this kind of heat wrap is gaining huge popularity world over for effective pain relief as well as for warmth and comfort.
8. Thermocare Gel Electric Heat Pad for Pain Relief
This Gel-based electric heat pad is filled and sealed with a special gel and does not require filling of hot water and is a modern replacement for traditional hot water bag. There is no extra burden of heating water or having a microwave at home. This heat pad runs on electricity and is very simple and quick to use; it has no doubt received good customer feedback.
Due to above advantages and convenience, these gel based heat pads are quite popular and affordable nowadays among the old and young alike. This gel heat pad can help you in getting relief from common body pain due to swelling, inflammation, arthritis and old age pains. In cold weather, you can even place this inside your quilt/ blanket to heat up and get a warm soothing sleep. Or use this on low temperature for a nice body massage!
Available in attractive colours and designs, these are super convenient for use by older people in winters, as they tend to get muscle cramps or body aches easily in cold weather. Just 5 to 10 minutes of electric charge can give about 120 minutes of heat.
PS. Two additional good quality products are the following:-
a. Electric Hot Water Bottle Heat Pad By Tradevast
b. Asbob® Electric Rechargeable Heat Pad
9. ONYXNEO Reusable Hot and Cold Gel Pack with Straps (Large)
This is a reusable Hot & Cold Gel Pack with adjustable extra-long elastic belt for use around various body areas. This can help you in getting relief from sports injuries, swelling, muscle pains, body aches and arthritic joint pains.
Due to its extra-long size and wrapping ability, it can be used on any body part: Knee, Arm, Thigh, Leg, Foot, Lumbar, Neck, Upper & Lower Back, Shoulder, Neck, Legs and Hips.
You can use this for both warm and cold treatment. The gel pack is freezable serving as a cold pack OR can be heated in a microwave for use as heat pad. You would get up to 30 minutes of soothing cooling or heat relief from your common body aches and pains.
If you are looking for a first aid relief and comfort from everyday pain, this can be right product for you. Just wrap this around the affected body area and get pleasant relief from hot or cold therapy.
Conclusion
Heat treatment or heat pad has been known for a long time for providing relief from pain in various body areas such as shoulders, back, knees etc. In this review article, we have covered the most popular types of heat pads available online in India. We have curated these based on quality and performance. You can buy either for yourself, for your family or for your older parents for getting relief from common muscle spasms or old age body pains.
You can read more posts from our wellness desk on such useful health and wellness devices in India.
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