Heat can be used in different forms to help relieve joint or muscle pain due to arthritis, injury, or inflammation. It is also used along with antibiotics for certain kinds of infections that are close to the body’s surface, such as the skin.

Heat therapy is used as an alternative treatment along with others for cancer treatment. Studies show that local and regional heat therapy may help stop cancer growth. In some cases, it may enhance the effectiveness of radiation and chemotherapy. One possible reason for this is that poor blood and oxygen supplies in some types of tumor cells make them resistant to chemotherapy and radiation.

Heat is sometimes applied to the outside of the body to help relieve stiffness and pain from arthritis or other muscle and joint problems. This may involve warm compresses, warm baths, melted paraffin, and other ways to heat up the body or parts of it. Heat is sometimes used along with conventional therapy to help treat certain skin infections or inflammation. Warm soaks, warm compresses, and other means may be used to heat the affected area. Some of these treatment methods are used in treatment centers while others can be used at home.

Heat should be used with caution in people, who suffer from anemia, heart disease, diabetes, seizure disorders, and tuberculosis, as well as women who are pregnant, and people who are sensitive to the effects of heat.