How many of you readers have electric heating pads or rice pads at home?  As far as I’m concerned, the only use for electric heating pads is to make Alton Brown’s  homemade yogurt.  Rice pads and electric heating pads put off dry heat, which can dehydrate your tissue and joints.  In some cases, it can actually do more damage than good.

The best kind of heat to use for sore and achy muscles and joints is moist heat.  Moist heat penetrates deeper than dry heat and changes the temperature of your tissue more quickly.  Many people feel greater relief of their symptoms when using moist heat.  It can also be used before an adjustment to relax your muscles, making it easier to move your bones into the correct alignment.

You can use steamed towels, a hot bath/shower, or a moist heating  pad to apply moist heat to your body.  I carry microwaveable moist heating pads in my office, and it’s one of my very favorite things.  We have one at home, and my wife and I have used it again and again to soothe stiff muscles.  It works just like a rice pad, but is filled with tiny moisture beads instead.  I can’t recommend them enough!