I always had problems with my back pain and shoulder blade pain. As a relief, I use my heating pad a lot. I use it when I get in bed at night and lay back on the heating pad seeking relief. But, what actually scared me is the information I've heard recently that using heating pad can cause cancer. Apparently, it can cause both skin cancer and in internal organs due to radiation. The only problem I've noticed so far is that I developed some strange shaped burns from it. Burns look like a veins under the skin. Apparently, I've heard that this type of burning can lead to a skin cancer and now I'm scared to death. Is it true? Should I use my heating pad anymore? Also, I've heard that heating pad use should be reduced to 10-15 minutes at a low heat setting. I'm really devastated because heating pad helped me dealing with my pain. I don't know what to do.
Hello,
If you are getting burns on your back, you heating pad is set to a too high heating setting. The heating pad itself should not cause cancer but consider burning yourself repeatedly. That could cause some serious medical issues. What ever heat source you're using to relieve your should pain should only be applied for 10 to 15 minutes and no longer. Your trying to increase blood circulation to that area of the body which is good for pain and inflammation. However, with high heat you can cook cells and damage proteins in your blood. This is very dangerous. So, you want to keep your heating pad at a low setting at all times. Gees, I would think you would have pain from burning yourself. If your pain is really bad in your should, consider taking motrin. Motrin works very well on muscular and joint pain.
No, heating pad is good to improve your immune system. You should continue to use