Mechanism of Action, and Indications
Heat creates higher tissue temperatures, which produces vasodilation that increases the supply of oxygen, and nutrients and the elimination of carbon dioxide and metabolic waste.
Heat therapy is useful for muscle spasms, myalgia, fibromyalgia, contracture, bursitis.
Because heat is a vasodilator, it should be avoided in tissues with inadequate vascular supply, in case of acute injury, in bleeding disorders (because heat would increase bleeding), in tissues with a severe lack of sensitivity, in scars.
Another use is the treatment of infection and cancers by the use of heat. Cancer cells and many bacteria have poor mechanisms for adapting to and resisting the physiological stresses of heat, and are more vulnerable to heat-induced death than normal cells.
Read more about this topic: Heat Therapy
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