How we research, test and correct these guides
Five rules. Health and safety claims cite a named source you can open. Every calculator prints its assumptions underneath it. We say what we do not know, including when the evidence behind common advice is weak. We do not invent statistics or reviews. And corrections are made on the page rather than in private.
This site sells heat therapy products, so the interesting question is not whether we recommend heat. It is whether the guides tell you when a cheaper product, a different temperature or a clinician is the better answer. Here is the standard we hold ourselves to.
The five rules
- A source, not a vibe. Every claim about session length, temperature, burn risk, swelling or pain relief names the body that said it and links to it: Cedars-Sinai, Harvard Health, Mayo Clinic, the NHS, NICE, the FDA, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or a Cochrane review. If we cannot find a source, the sentence does not go in.
- Tools publish their method. The session planner and the heat or ice quiz both explain their inputs, their arithmetic and their assumptions on the page. You should be able to disagree with a number and see which part of the logic produced it.
- We state the limits. Where the evidence is thin, the page says so. The timing guide says that no trial compares 20 minutes of heat with 40. The decision guide says the Cochrane review could not draw conclusions about cold for back pain at all. That is more useful to you than false confidence.
- We separate comfort from cure. Heat makes sore things feel better and stiff things move more easily. It does not repair tissue, diagnose anything, or replace treatment. Pages here say that plainly instead of implying a warmer pad is a faster recovery.
- Corrections are visible. When a page is substantively wrong, or a cited source changes, we fix it and note the date on the page.
What we will not do
| Not this | Why |
|---|---|
| Publish a statistic without a source | An uncited number is decoration. If we cannot verify a figure, we cut the sentence rather than soften the wording. |
| Write review counts or testimonials we did not receive | Invented social proof is the fastest way to lose the reader who actually reads. |
| Diagnose, or tell you to ignore a clinician | We explain mechanism, timing and safe use. Diagnosis belongs to someone who can examine you, and the red flags in our guides exist to point you there. |
| Hide that this is a store | It is a store. The guides exist to help you buy the right thing once, and to tell you when the right thing is a towel and a hot water bottle. |
| Recommend heat for everything | A swollen, hot joint needs cold. A numb foot needs a clinician. A pregnancy question needs your maternity team. Those answers cost us nothing to give and are the point of the page. |
| Copy a competitor guide and reword it | Every page here is built from the source material, the numbers in the sources, and our own tools. |
What "checked" means in our bylines
The byline at the top of each guide names what the content was checked against, not who wrote it. When it says checked against Cedars-Sinai, Harvard Health, NHS, Cochrane and FDA guidance, that means every safety claim, timing range and temperature figure on the page was matched to those documents before publishing. When a claim could only be supported by a single case series or a low quality trial, the page says so in the sentence rather than in a footnote.
Where our numbers come from
| Number on the site | Source |
|---|---|
| 10 to 30 minutes for a heating pad session | Cedars-Sinai guidance on heating pad use |
| 15 to 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours for ice, first 48 to 72 hours | NHS sprains and strains; NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries |
| No more than 20 minutes of cold at a time | Harvard Health, cold versus heat for pain relief |
| Heat raises tissue temperature by 9 to 12 F; above 113 F can be painful; above 122 F can burn | Harvard Health |
| Small, short-term reduction in pain and disability from heat wrap therapy in acute and subacute low back pain | Cochrane review CD004750, superficial heat or cold for low back pain |
| Heated abdominal patches and wraps relieved period pain comparably to ibuprofen, and better than acetaminophen over 8 hours | Randomised trials in Obstetrics and Gynecology 2001 and Journal of Reproductive Medicine 2004 |
| Barrier between pad and skin, frequent skin checks, reduced skin sensation raises risk | US FDA consumer guidance on hot and cold therapy devices |
Corrections and contact
If something on this site is wrong, out of date, or cites a source that no longer says what we claimed, tell us and we will fix it and date the change. Corrections are made on the page, not quietly. The fastest route is the contact page.
Start with these
Sources
- Cedars-Sinai. How to use a heating pad to heal and ease pain from muscle injuries. January 2025 — www.cedars-sinai.org/stories-and-insights/healthy-living/how-to-use-a-heating-pad-to-heal-and-ease-pain-from-muscle-injuries
- Harvard Health Publishing. Cold versus heat for pain relief: how to use them safely and effectively — www.health.harvard.edu/pain/cold-versus-heat-for-pain-relief-how-to-use-them-safely-and-effectively
- US Food and Drug Administration. Cold facts to help avoid injury from water-circulating hot/cold therapy devices — www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/cold-facts-help-avoid-injury-water-circulating-hotcold-therapy-devices
- NHS. Sprains and strains — www.nhs.uk/conditions/sprains-and-strains/
- French SD, et al. Superficial heat or cold for low back pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2006, CD004750 — www.cochrane.org/evidence/CD004750_superficial-heat-or-cold-low-back-pain
- Brosseau L, et al. Thermotherapy for treatment of osteoarthritis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2003, CD004522 — www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD004522