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Hot pack

The medical use of thermal therapy, both hot and cold, is well known to treat various maladies and traumas. Various forms of thermal therapy have been used in the past to provide either heating or cooling to specific parts of a patient's body. For example, heat has been used in the past to increase blood flow and speed the healing process to an injured area. Similarly, cooling has been used to prevent and reduce swelling and pain. In the past, hot or cold packs have been used in a variety of applications. Hot packs are used as infant heel warmers, for the treatment of soreness of muscles, as food warmers, and for other related applications. Usually, application of heat is used stimulate the body to increase blood flow in an area in order to dissipate the heat build-up. This acts to prevent stiffness in a traumatized joint or appendage. The application of a cold pack reduces swelling and lessens perceived pain. Both of these standard treatments have a place in caring for a patient. A common hot pack is a gel hot pack which comprises a gel material contained in a flexible plastic housing. The gel packs are heated to a desired temperature and are then ready for use. Also commercially available is a chemical hot pack which comprises two or more pouches for separately storing chemical reactants which can be mixed to produce an exothermic heating mixture. Other hot packs comprise an oxygen activated, heat generating chemical composition contained in a housing that allows air to permeate when heat is needed.

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