How to keep gel packs warm
October 27, 2011 4:36 PM   Subscribe

How to keep "gel packs" warm?

A Friend recovering from surgery needs to apply hot "gel packs" to mitigate pain. She lives alone, but doesn't want to jump up every half hour to reheat a pack in the microwave.

So Friend's plan is to microwave a small stockpile (like 2 or 3) of these in advance and keep them next to the bed, ready for use. The question is how to keep them warm for a couple of hours.

We are thinking of an "igloo" type softsided cooler, which I assume would keep things warm even though their official purpose is to keep things cold. Any comments on that? Any other ideas?

Thanks
posted by Kevin S to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)
 
Wrap them in an electric blanket.
posted by dfriedman at 4:41 PM on October 27, 2011


Any reason a heating pad wouldn't work instead of the gel packs?

Failing that put them in a big old thermos, will keep them toasty for hours.
posted by iamabot at 4:43 PM on October 27, 2011


If an electric heating pad is out of the question as an alternative, maybe she can store the gel packs in a crockpot full of water that is kept on the "keep warm" setting? I have no idea if that is safe or likely to cause melting though.
posted by joan_holloway at 4:52 PM on October 27, 2011


I like the crockpot idea. Or anything well-insulated like a thick-walled styrofoam cooler (the kind they ship Kansas City steaks in), or a pile of blankets/pillows.
posted by beagle at 4:59 PM on October 27, 2011


use a clay warming pack and wrap the extras in a couple layers of blankets-they'll stay warm for a long time.
posted by nadawi at 5:00 PM on October 27, 2011


A cooler's purpose is to insulate, not just keep things cold, so it would probably help some, especially if you heated the hotpacks you weren't going to use right away until extra hot to balance out the inevitable heat loss. If you had a waterproof cooler, you could also leave the hotpacks sitting in hot water in the cooler for some extra heat capacity.

Another thing to try might be reusable hot packs filled with a supersaturated sodium acetate solution. You "melt" them in hot water, and then they can sit around in their liquid state for moths before you trigger crystallization by clicking a small metal disk, at which time they heat up due to the energy released during crystallization. Once she's used the entire stockpile, she can recharge them all again in a pot of hot water. I've used this brand as handwarmers in the past, but there are plenty of fairly identical brands. If you want them right away, I've seen the same sort of hot pack for sale at camping/outdoor stores.
posted by JiBB at 5:06 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


Could she (or a friend) move the microwave into the bedroom for the recovery period? She lives alone, so it's not like she's going to be hindering anyone else's use of the microwave.

(Though my first vote would be for an electric heating pad, too.)
posted by phunniemee at 5:09 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Friend is afraid of all things electrical.

JiBB - your overheating idea sounds good

phunniemee - microwave in bedroom: that was my most recent suggestion to her, but no go since microwave is built-in. She is a few hundred miles away so can't find a small one to loan her.
posted by Kevin S at 5:21 PM on October 27, 2011


A cooler would work well. For a period of several months, I had to use large bags of fluid warmed to body temperature every 4 hours. Throwing one in a cooler in the car was the easiest way to have a warm one ready while I was out.
posted by WasabiFlux at 7:31 PM on October 27, 2011


Response by poster: WasabiFlux - thanks, I was wondering about that. My ancient and never deep understanding of thermodynamics led me to believe it would work just fine - but wasn't sure.
posted by Kevin S at 8:55 PM on October 27, 2011


I don't know if they would be appropriate for her specific condition, but I LOVE those heat therapy wraps that work the same way as those little hand warmer packets. (Like these.) They are single use (and cost $1-2 each) but they last more than 8 hours. They are brilliant.

The cooler will absolutely work, though, maybe just heat them up a bit more than she otherwise would. And fill the cooler as full as possible (depending on the size of the gel packs a small drink cooler might be good), or maybe top the cooler off with hot water.

And if she's in bed anyhow, she should keep the cooler under the comforter with her, for extra insulation.
posted by mskyle at 8:37 AM on October 28, 2011


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