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Chill or Melt Away Inflammation

July 28, 2013

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Inflammation occurs when your body attempts to protect itself against damaged cells, germs, irritants, or tissue injury so it can begin to heal. If you have inflammation, you may experience heat, pain, redness, swelling, and tenderness of the affected area. Numerous things can cause inflamed skin, including allergens, burns, poison ivy, sprains, strains, and sunburn.

Thermotherapy, also called heat therapy, can help if you experience skin that is inflamed due to injuries, including sprains, strains, and whiplash. Using a hot pack will increase blood flow and flexibility of connective tissue.

Cryotherapy, also called cold therapy, has the power to rapidly numb pain, and reduces bruising, heat, and swelling as it decreases blood flow. If you have sudden onset inflammation, you should apply a cold pack as soon as possible to relieve the pain and reduce the swelling. However, it is best to simply apply a cold pack after physical activity when the problem is ongoing.

THERA°PEARL hot/cold packs are filled with pliable gel-filled pearls, so they never feel hard against your sensitive skin. The THERA°PEARL Sports Packs, Contour Packs, and Oval Packs can easily be placed on affected areas. If you have aches or tension in your neck or shoulders, the contoured THERA°PEARL Neck Wrap will chill or melt away your symptoms. To specifically target those nasty shin splints, choose the THERA°PEARL Shin Wrap. The THERA°PEARL Knee Wrap is made especially for your knees, and has VELCRO® BRAND straps to secure the wrap in place. All THERA°PEARL products can be frozen and heated, depending on your specific needs. Read More

Sources:
Inflammation http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248423.php and http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/inflammation and http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inflammation
Types of inflammation to the skin (dermatitis) http://nyp.org/health/derm-rash.html and http://nyp.org/health/allergy-contderm.html
Soft Tissue Injury http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00304
Inflammation and cold therapy: http://www.therapearl.com/world/
Heat therapy and inflammation http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/fundamentals/rehabilitation/treatment_of_pain_and_inflammation.html

How to Use Hot and Cold Packs to Treat Sprains

July 21, 2013

If you have a sprain, your ligaments have been stretched or torn. Sprains are most likely to affect your ankles, elbows, knees, and wrists. Even though sprains are generally considered a minor injury, they still cause painful bruising and swelling.

Hot and cold packs can work wonders on an area that is sprained. An ice pack will help reduce swelling, and will also alleviate pain with an analgesic effect. For the best results, you should use an ice pack as soon as you can after an injury occurs. You should aim to use an ice pack four to eight times a day, and for 20 minutes each session. However, you don’t want to leave a cold pack on for too long since doing so can result in tissue damage.

When you can place weight on or use the area you’ve injured, hot therapy will help boost blood circulation to your tight or tender muscles, and will help prepare your body for physical activity. A hot pack has the power to increase flexibility while decreasing pain. You should aim to leave a hot pack on the affected area for the doctor-recommended time of 20 minutes.

The THERA°PEARL Contour Pack is a reusable hot/cold pack that has adjustable straps, making it easy to treat sprained ankles, elbows, knees, and wrists. It is simple to target any area that is injured with the THERA°PEARL Sports Pack. If you have a sprained knee, the THERA°PEARL Knee Wrap will stay in place with its stretchable VELCRO® BRAND straps. Your body will thank you for treating it to the healing power of the gel-filled, pliable pearls. Read More

Sources:
Sprain definition: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sprains-and-strains/DS00343
and http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/sprains-and-000157.htm
Hot therapy: http://www.livestrong.com/article/534618-hot-cold-therapy-for-asprain-or-strain
Cold therapy: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-sprain/FA00016

Dry Eyes Respond to Heat Therapy

July 14, 2013

Your tears are a complex combination of fatty oils, water, proteins, electrolytes, and vitamins. If you suffer from dry eyes, you may experience a stinging or scratching sensation, or feel as though there is something in your eyes. Other symptoms you may notice include eye discharge that is string-like in appearance, pain, blurred vision, redness, and eye tiredness. Dry eyes occur when not enough tears are produced, or when there is an imbalance in the makeup of the tears. 

If you want to help your eyes naturally produce tears that are the correct consistency, you can use a gel-filled hot pack made specifically for the eyes. Using a hot pack will help loosen the oils in the tarsal glands so the oils can more flow easily into your tears. Hot packs filled with gel are an excellent alternative to other warm compresses because they deliver consistent heat for 20 minutes.

The THERA°PEARL Eye-ssential Mask is a reusable hot/cold pack that contains flexible pearls filled with gel. Close your eyes, relax, and let the warm Eye-ssential Mask loosen the oils in your eyes to thicken your tears, which, in turn, decreases dryness.

 

THERA°PEARL Eye-ssential Mask Read More

Sources:
http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/dryeye/dryeye.asp and http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dry-eyes/DS00463/DSECTION=causes  and http://www.medic8.com/eye-disorders/dry-eyes.htm  (Dry Eyes)
http://www.revoptom.com/content/d/dry_eye/c/35148/ (Heat therapy. The application of heat to the eyelids has traditionally been implemented by using warm compresses. However, many innovative devices have emerged with the goal of providing a regulated elevated temperature to the eyelids. These tools, in the forms of a face-mask, goggle or similar device, have been designed to more effectively heat the lids and increase convenience for the patient, possibly improving compliance.9,10)
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/04/05/6-effective-dry-eye-treatments/  (Warm Compresses)
http://www.luckeyeyecare.com/products.html (For dry eye relief, the moist heat therapy is the most effective. It helps loosen oils in the meibomian glands and stabilizes tear film, further reducing evaporation of natural and artificial tears.)
 

Hot and Cold Therapy for Migraine Relief

July 7, 2013

A migraine is a type of headache that can produce severe throbbing in an area of your head. Other symptoms you may experience include nausea, vomiting, and intense sensitivity to noise and light. A migraine attack can last for hours or days.

Heat therapy can reduce the pain of a migraine by relaxing your tense muscles. During the winter, a hot pack can help you melt into comfort.

Cold therapy works by numbing, meaning that it dulls the pain caused by a migraine. A cold pack has a cool analgesic effect that is perfect to use during the summer.

If you suffer from migraine headaches, hot and cold therapy can help relieve your symptoms. THERA°PEARL has a Facemask that can be frozen or microwaved. It has openings that allow you to see, breath and talk. Just wrap the VELCRO® BRAND straps around the back of your head and let the hot or cold therapy work its magic. THERA°PEARL also has an Eye-ssential Mask that can be chilled or heated. It’s an easy way to relieve your migraine pain and relax at the same time. Read More

Sources:
Migraine Description
Migraine Description
Temperature Therapy