Homemade Ice Packs and Heat Wraps

You do not have to go out and buy expensive hot pads or work with a bag of ice to try and comfort your aching muscles. I have used these over the years and they work perfectly...even better than the store bought kinds!

Let's start with the hot packs. You need two hand towels, a gallon-size ziplock baggie, and some king of a belt or sash to hold the prepared hot pack in place. First wet one of the hand towels thoroughly. Squeeze out the excess water. Place the towel in the ziplock baggie and close until you have one inch left. LEAVE THAT OPEN or the bag will explode. Now, put the baggie in the microwave and nuke for 2 minutes. In the meantime, lay out your other hand towel on the counter. Make sure it is flat and all the way open. When your towel in the microwave is finished, REMOVE CAREFULLY! You may want to use oven mitts. Open the bag away from you so you do not get steam burned. Place the heated towel on the other towel. Now take the two ends and fold toward the middle (meet the edges in the middle). Now fold the opposite sides in, but this time overlap them so you do not have any hot towel poking through. Place on your skin where it hurts. You may need to put it over a shirt or on top of your pants if the heat is too intense. If you don't want to hold it there, grab a belt or sash and wrap around you to hold it into place. This take a bit of practice, but in the end, it is definitely worth it!

Now the cold pack. This is waaaaaay to easy. I have upper back and shoulder pain, and I always had trouble positioning the pack so it would stay there. Well, I had inspiration when I was going through some old clothes and found some leg warmers I had from the '80s! Well, I took the leg warmer and shoved a freezer pack into it. I placed the pack directly into the middle of the leg warmer. I then positioned the pack on the sore part of my shoulder or upper back, and used the two ends to tie it into place. Viola! Heaven on Earth, I tell you!

Please let me know if you need further explanation, and I'll be happy to oblige!