Treating Chronic Pain with a Heated Mattress Pad

My wife and I both deal with chronic pain, and when we spotted a heated mattress pad at a Wal-Mart a couple of years ago, we decided that sleeping on a heated mattress pad might just help.

I have chronic pain form a back injury, and my wife has fibromyalgia and Lupus, which causes her joint pain. When we bought the Sunbeam Heated Mattress pad, and put it on the bed, let me tell you, it was a joy to sleep on.

You may not think that sleeping on a mattress that has a heated pad, would make that much of a difference, but it really does. Prior to getting it, we both had heating pads that we would use occasionally. Manufacturers of heating pads warn you not to fall asleep on a heating pad, because you can end up with burns.

Remembering that warning, made me wonder if sleeping on a heated mattress pad was going to be just as much of an issue. Actually, the mattress pads are heated by way of electrical coils that are distributed through the entire pad. Thus, the heat is not concentrated in one spot.

Sunbeam makes several sizes of heated mattress pads, ranging from twin all the way up to king. We have one with dual controls.

The controls for the mattress pad give you a range from 1 to 10. We often will turn the mattress pad on about twenty minutes before we go to bed, so that the heat is at the right level when we are ready to sleep.

Many people will use a heated mattress pad simply to warm up a bed in the winter time. My wife and I use ours year round. Heat therapy for back injuries, and fibromyalgia is well documented, and from experience I can guarantee that if you have a need for one the way we do, you will never be without one.

This spring, I went on a church retreat, and the bunk I had naturally did not have a heated mattress pad. The difference was stark. I woke up a lot stiffer than I do at home. Some of that could have been from sleeping on a mattress that was not as firm as the bed at home, but I think at least part of it was the fact that it was not heated.

When my wife gets a flare-up of her fibromyalgia or Lupus symptoms, or my back is spasming as it often does, we can turn the heat up to a higher setting for a short time, and get some relief.

Using a heated mattress pad is a simple way to get some mild pain relief.