Herbal hot packs

Herbal hot packs are used for a number of purposes but mostly to relieve back pain, neck pain, eye strain and to give other forms of relaxation to tired and aching muscles. You can use either commercial herbal hot packs or your own prepared herbal hot packs. Commercial herbal packs could cost anywhere between $18 and 35 per herbal pack. The beauty of the commercial herbal hot packs is that they are reusable and can be reheated a number of times of times without losing their effectiveness. And the ingredients of these commercial herbal packs are entirely organic. On the other hand, making your own herbal hot packs especially if you have your own botanical garden can be a good alternative. All you need to do is assemble different herbs freshly picked from your garden. Herbal hot packs use all kinds of fillers where certain amounts of herbs are added. Fillers for herbal hot packs could be wheat or rice, husks of grains, buckwheat husks, cattails seeds, lavender and other herbs. You can change these herbs once it has lost its effect.

Specifically, herbal hot packs usually contain the following ingredients:

For the base content: rice and lavender, buckwheat husks, popping corn, other grains, peas or beans and cherry pits. For the herbal content: lavender which is for relaxation, catnip as sleep aid, peppermint, spearmint, eucalyptus for congestion, garlic for severe congestion, yucca to treat inflammation and other herbal ingredients.

Herbal hot packs are particularly effective if used to relax. To heat herbal hot pack, place the pack in the microwave oven for as little time as possible, usually less as a minute depending on the size of the pack. Herbs will lose their effectiveness if heated for a long time especially the mints. The same herbal heat pack can be put in the freezer and used as a cold herbal pack to treat inflammation. You can use the herb catnip as effective herbal hot packs or pillows for relaxation and to relieve congestion. Just hang the plants up to dry, put them into an old pillowslip and use them as a pillow to aid sleep.

Herbal hot packs are generally used to treat and are effective for the following symptoms:

o General muscle fatigue
o Sciatic nerve
o Back pain
o Arthritic and rheumatic pain
o Tight, still muscles
o Sinus headaches, backaches, joint discomfort or inflammation
o Warming muscle before exercising
o Muscle spasms in neck or upper back
o Ease pain of migraines and TMJ problems