If your like me and your find heat beneficial for pain relief then you should pop into Lloyds Pharmacy while they have ThermaCare heat wraps on offer with a generous £1.50 off. I bought mine in Mansfield, Nottingham but I have looked on the internet and it seems to be throughout the group.
I am convinced that heat doesn't just provide comfort and have a placebo effect. I think it actually deactivates the pain in much the same way as painkillers do. Even in ancient civilization it was recorded on stone that treatments used for pain were pressure, heat, water and sun. When I was younger I suffered badly with period pains and my Mum would always give me a hot water bottle to put on my stomach to ease the pain.
According to the BBC News Channel 5/7/06 "Researchers for the University College London used DNA technology to monitor heat and pain receptors within cells. They say temperature over 40c (104f) switch on internal heat receptors which block the effect of chemical messengers that cause the body to detect pain".
I personally benefit from the ThermaCare wraps for when I am travelling or going through a bad patch with my pain, its certainly always worth having some in your cupboard.
