What are the benefits of electric blankets?
There are several obvious benefits to electric blankets: They can help heat cold sheets during the winter before you get into bed or serve as an added heating element around the house when you want to warm up (and potentially lower your utility bill). But their advantages can also extend to wellness — experts told us that they can relieve pain and discomfort for certain ailments and conditions.
“Heat therapy works by increasing blood circulation to the area, which can increase flexibility and soothe any discomfort,” said John Gallucci Jr., a physical therapist, and CEO of JAG-ONE Physical Therapy. That means heated blankets can help relieve muscle aches, stiffness, or chronic pain — for people who suffer from conditions with widespread musculoskeletal pain like fibromyalgia, heated blankets are especially beneficial “because of the large surface area that the blanket can heat at one time,” Gallucci added.
Heated blankets can also be useful for older individuals suffering from arthritis, according to Michael Urban, an occupational therapist, and director of the Doctorate of Occupational Therapy program at the University of New Haven. He noted that he typically recommends using these blankets in the morning rather than before going to bed since that’s when our muscles need them the most.
“When we first get up, our muscles are very stiff, especially as it gets colder,” Urban explained. If you have arthritis pain in your joints, hips, legs, and/or back, he recommended structuring your wake-up routine around laying in bed for about 20 minutes with the heated blanket on before getting up.
Those who are suffering from pain disorders may also have trouble falling asleep — a heated blanket can “be beneficial to warm up cold sheets or for help in drifting off to sleep,” noted Gallucci. However, both he and Urban were advised to never fall asleep with an electric blanket on due to fire risks, overheating, and disrupted sleep.