As mentioned in the above video, a hot towel is a fast and easy way to get some moist heat relief for pain. The article that was mentioned in the video was this one: Should I Use Heat or Ice On My Injury? Here are the steps and details of the video:
What you need:
2 hand towels
Water
A microwave
Steps to make a hot towel:
1. Soak one hand towel in water and wrap it into a tight ball
2. Put the wet towel in a microwave for 60 seconds (1 minute)
3. Take your dry towel and lay it flat over your sore area
4. Take your hot towel and fold it into a manageable shape such as a rectangle
5. Lay the hot towel over the dry towel and wrap the edges of the dry towel around the wet one.
6. Let it sit until it loses it's heat, or you start to feel better. Usually around 20 minutes is the longest it retains it's heat.
So what is the dry towel for?
The dry towel is simply there to keep the hot towel from burning or causing any irritation on the skin. If you are putting the hot towel over a piece of clothing, you might be able to get away without the dry towel, however I'd personally still advise you to use the dry towel just to keep an extra layer of protection and not get your clothing wet.
Why is moist heat important?
Moist heat is recommended for heat healing because since our skin and muscles are porous, a water based heat is more readily absorbed so rather than simply heating up the surface of the skin, the heat gets deeper into the area and therefore is more effective with the heat doing it's job.
I hope this hot towel tutorial helps you out with your fast moist heat needs!
