Far infrared Heating pads, like the infrared heating mat, are used for pain relief (such as back pain and neck pain relief) and discomfort in a wide range of areas in our bodies when used properly. The trouble is there are a lot of different brands to pick and choose from. How do you know which mat gives off the most benefits? who has the best customer service? What are the warranty periods like for these heating pads? These and many more of these questions are about to be revealed in this best infrared heating pads review.
| Far Infared Pad | Crystal Varieties | Pad Varieties | Warranty | Starting Price | Total Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Healthy Wave FIR Heating Pad
 |
Amethyst
Tourmaline Natural Jade Stones |
Square
Rectangular Belt Shoulder Back Knee/Leg Arm |
-45 day trial satisfaction guarantee
-1 Year Warranty (Optional 5) |
$155.00 | Healthy Wave Mat Full Review 9.5/10 |
UTK Infrared Heating Pad
 |
Natural Jade Stones
Tourmaline |
Square
Rectangular Shoulder |
-30 day trial satisfaction guarantee
-1 Year Warranty (Optional 5) |
$149.00 | UTK Mat Full Review
7/10 |
Therasage
 |
Natural Jade Stones | Square
Rectangular |
-30 day trial satisfaction guarantee
-1 Year Limited Warranty |
$185.00 | Therasage Mat Full Review
6.5/10 |
Thermotex
 |
Carbon | Square
Rectangular Knee/Leg Arm |
-30 day trial satisfaction guarantee
-1 Year Warranty |
$97.00 | Therasage Mat Full Review
6/10 |
Biomat
 |
Amethyst | Rectangular
Belt |
-7 Day Full Return Policy
-3 Year Warranty |
$670.00 | Biomat Full Review 5.5/10 |
What are the Benefits of Far Infrared Heat?
An invisible form of infrared rays that runs at the particular wavelength of 5.6 -1000 µm. They also produce ample negative ions from that heat. Far infrared therapy from the infrared rays allows your body to absorb energy without needing excessive heat. Far Infrared technology has multiple PubMed Studies that see positive results through consistent use. Some of the improved functions studies included:
- Improves to Condition of Patients with Cardiovascular diseases (1)
- Improvment of Cellular Functions by stimulating cells and tissue (2)
- Helped Decrease Myofascial pain syndrome (muscle pain relief)(3)
- Improved the condition of patients with chronic pain (4)
- Significant clinical improvements of low back pain relief in Individuals (5)
- Inhibited the proliferation of cancer cells in Patients (6)
There are many more clinical study examples of how far infrared rays helps maintain your body and treat it from illnesses or pains . When looking for the most effective FIR treatment you should like for a deep tissue heating pad that has a wide range of different temperatures to offer. What temperature works best often depends on how your body reacts to certain temperatures. In my case, my body does not react well to sauna’s and places of extreme heat. As a result I usually go for a lukewarm temperature like the 40- 50 C range.
Infrared Heating Pad Consumer Reports and What They Can Tell Us
Want to know how other people who have purchased the product feel about it? Looking at verified customer reviews is a great way to find if the product is truly effective or not. You can find these on company websites or simply just do a bit of googling to see what people who have owned the infrared heating pad really think of it.
The Best Infrared Heating Pads Reviews
Below are some reviews of the best infrared heating pads. We talk about how each infrared heating pad relates to the above criteria and why it was given it’s rating
1. Healthy Wave Far Infrared Heating Pads and Mats
| Mat | Crystals | Therapies | Treatment Areas | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthy Wave Jade/Tourmaline Heating Pad
|
Jade and Tourmaline | Negative Ion Therapy
Far-Infrared Heat Therapy Crystal Therapy |
Thighs
Legs Lower Back |
$125 USD |
Healthy Wave Amethyst FIR Red Light Therapy Pad
 |
5 Lbs Crushed Amethyst | Negative Ion Therapy
Far-Infrared Heat Therapy Crystal Therapy Red Light Therapy |
Thighs
Legs Lower Back Shoulders Chest |
$359 USD |
Healthy Wave 5 Therapy Pads
 |
Amethyst, Tourmaline and Jade | Negative Ion Therapy
Far-Infrared Heat Therapy Crystal Therapy Red Light Therapy Pemf Therapy |
Thighs
Legs Lower Back Shoulders Chest |
$435 – $1489 USD |
Rated as the best infrared heating pads, what made Healthy Wave stand above the rest? A big part of the reason was because of the variety of healing crystals and infrared technology it was able to provide.
Pros
- Some Heating Pads Include All Five Therapies
- Offers the Most Variety of Crystals for More Healing (Natureal Jade Stones, Tourmaline Stones and Amethyst Stones
- Helps With Blood Circulation
- Website is Full of Information
- Best Trial/ Money back Guarantee (90 Days)
- 5 Year Controller Warranty
- Buy Direct from Site
- More Negative Ions Per Square Inch
- Free Repairs and Shipping Within Warranty Period
- Biggest Variety of Healing Pads
- Great for Back Pain
- Easy to Use
Cons
- Only has 1 Year Warranty Included (Option of 5 but you have to pay a bit extra)
- Less Amethyst than Other Mats
One of the main reasons we are interested in getting a far infrared pad is because of it’s ability to heal the area of irritation and discomfort. It does this by penetrating 3-8 inches deep inside your tissue which promotes microcirculation that allows your cells to work in harmony with one another transporting blood circulation to your capillaries and organs in a more efficient way.
The most basic models of the Healthy Wave infrared heating mat are still able to give you 3 therapies (far infrared heat, Crystal and negative ion therapies). What I really liked about the Healthy Wave far infrared heating pads was the fact that it gave you a ton of different varieties. Not just with the different sizes and shapes of the mats but also the different varieties. Not all crystals give off the same negative ion amounts so I really appreciated the fact that Healthy Wave had so many different varieties that allowed you to pick and choose what kind of crystals you wanted in your mat.
Healthy Wave also ticked off all the boxes when it came to different targeted mat varieties that were available.
- Square Infrared Heating Pads
- Rectangular Infrared Heating Pads
- Pillows
- Belt Infrared Heating Pads
- Shoulder/ Back Infrared Heating Pads
- Knee/ Leg Infrared Heating Pads
- Arm Infrared Heating Pads
In terms of Warranty Healthy Wave was the most flexible mat company to work with because it gave you a 90 day trial satisfaction guarantee. Which essentially means you have 90 days to try out the mat and if you don’t like it you can return it within that time period.
The Warranty lasts for 1 full year but has the option to feature 5 years if you pay an addition 35%. Healthy Wave does however, offer free repair which includes free shipping that is paid by Healthy Wave themselves. If any of you are familiar with shipping rates you would know that this is not a particularly cheap item to ship due to it’s weight and size. In this particular space it is hard to find any manufacturers that offer this as many will actually expect you to pay for shipping.
While the mat/ pad warranty was pretty standard their controller warranty was by far the best infrared heating pad which featured a 5 year warranty. This kind of warranty is almost unheard of in this space because the controller is often the most expensive component of the heating pad package. Often times infrared heating pad manufacturers will make the controller warranty shorter than the pad because of this reason.
Healthy Wave featured a good starting price and was among the top 2 of the list for 3 therapy heating pads. If you look closer it’s starting price is within $6 of the starting price of the UTK infrared heating pad and features 3 Crystals as opposed to the 1 used in UTK which is Natural Jade.
- Jade Stones: gives off 700 negative ions per square inch
- Amethyst Stones: gives off 1500 negative ions per square inch
- Tourmaline Stones: gives off 1500 negative ions per square inch
More crystals means more healing capability and more negative ions per square inch. These negative ions are a key component in helping unclump your cells.
Certain Healthy Wave Pads have the ability to deliver Far Infrared Heat, Crystal Therapy, Negative Ions, PEMF and Photon Light Therapy. PEMF therapy brings your cells through full magnetic polarity which helps stimulate it’s mitochondria, perfect for complementing far infrared therapies ability of microcirculation. The Photon Light Therapy helps heal damaged tissue around the dermis area by bringing about light particles that helps rejuvenate damaged tissue within the dermis area. When Red (Photon) Light Therapy is coupled with Far Infrared Heat blood capaliaries expand within your tissue allowing more white blood cells to go through and repair damaged tissue by way of Red (Photon) Light Therapy. Which ultimatly means more blood circulation
You can find my full review on the Healthy Wave Pro Infrared Heating Mat here
Check the price on these infrared heating pads every so often, sometimes there are sales on them so keep a close eye on the price.
2. UTK Far Infrared Heating Pad
Perhaps one of the most famous infrared heating pads around, the UTK Infrared Pad managed to grab second on out list. So what were the main differences between the Healthy Wave Far Infrared Pad and the UTK Infrared Heating Pad?
Pros
- Includes Far Infrared Heat, Crystal and Negative Ion Therapy
- Good Warranty and Money Back Guarantee Period
- Can Get Extended 6 -12 Month Warranties
- Cheapest Three Therapy mat
- Good for Back Pain
- Digital Controller
Cons
- Only Features One Crystal (Jade Stones)
- No Pemf or Photon Therapy
- Less Varities Available
- Less Negative Ions Per Square Inch
- Not a Lot of Information on Site Explaining the Therapies Clearly
In terms of Ease of Use I found that the information posted on UTK’s site was significantly less than the information used on Healthy Wave’s. I found Healthy Wave better explained each different therapy on their site and offered far better varieties of infrared pads available. While UTK does feature custom infrared heating pads for shoulders and back pain as well as knee wraps they all mostly offer these pads in jade stones .
There is nothing wrong with natural jade stones at all as it is a decent negative ion conductor even when not heated. The problem is if the difference between UTK and Healthy Wave is $6 extra dollars. Wouldn’t you want more gemstones and information out there on the product you are using for $6 extra dollars? Amethyst and Tourmaline stones each feature 800 more negative ions per square inch than Jade which will give you the combination of 3000 more negative Ions per square inch compared to the UTK Far Infrared Heating Pad.
In terms of Warranty UTK has a pretty good warranty period with the standard 30 day money back guarantee and a 1 year warranty with an optional 5 month warranty for 35% of the purchase price, similar to Healthy Wave. What was interesting was on UTK’s site you can actually purchase 6 – 12 month extended warranties on the mats for a pretty good price ($9.90 for 6 months and $19.90 for 12).
UTK is a certified FDA approved Class IIa medical device which means it has been looked at and tested by the FDA and is deemed safe to use.
Overall UTK Far Infrared Pad offers a trustworthy product at a decent price but in terms of far infrared therapy there is more to be desired compared to the above best infrared heating pads
3. Therasage Far infrared heating Pad
Therasage is another popular name in the infrared heating pad community. Therasage sells heating pad as well as a wide range of products such as portable saunas, energy bands and water pitchers. It makes sure that it’s pads are low electromagnetic radiation heating pads as detailed in it’s blog.
Pros
- Includes Three Therapies
- Blog Offers Decent Information
- Helps With Blood Circulation
- Good for Back Pain
- Digital Controller
Cons
- More Expensive than the Top 2
- Not a Lot of Varities of Mats
- Not a Lot of Crystal Variations
- Less Negative Ions Per Square Inch
- Very Similar Design to UTK
Therasage, like UTK lost points to Healthy Wave because of their 3 out of the possible 5 healing properties offered (Far Infrared Heat, Negative Ion and Crystal Therapy) . While I do realize that their main focus is far infrared therapy having more healing properties such as Photon Light Therapy and PEMF therapy helps complement the already existing far infrared therapy which increases cellular regeneration within your body.
They just like UTK, just use Jade stones to conduct far infrared heat instead of a combination of different healing crystals. Where Therasage also lost the majority of it’s points is the fact that it’s mat is actually $30 more expensive than Healthy Wave mats with only the one healing stone offered as opposed Tourmaline, Amethyst and Obsidian offered by the Healthy Wave heating pads.They also did not feature as many varieties of infrared heating pads as both UTK and Healthy Wave.
What I did like about Therasage is that they provided good information on their products on blog of their website specifically related to far infrared heat therapy and EMF Protection to protect against electromagnetic radiation. They provided ample information and their blog seems to be up to date which means that they do some research in their field.
Therasage features a standard 30 day money back guarantee and a 1 year limited warranty although it took some digging around to find it. Unfortunately you do not have the option of purchasing more time on the warranty like you can with Healthy Wave or UTK pads. This type of warranty is usually the standard in this industry and it does cover any defective or malfunctioned parts within that time span.
Overall Therasage far infrared pad offers less varieties of different pads at a higher price point than #1 and #2 of the best infrared heating pads.
4. Thermotex Far infrared Heating Pad
Thermotex is a sort of hybrid far infrared heating pad in that it does not use crystals to produce far infrared heat. It instead uses carbon fiber panels as heat inserts to treat the affected part of your body. While carbon fiber does produce far infrared heat (many far infrared saunas use them) there is no evidence that they give off beneficial negative ions like crystals do when heat is applied to them. Therefore Thermotex only scored 1 point in healing properties because it does not feature the benefits of crystal therapy and negative ion therapy that all the other infrared heating pads feature in this list.
Pros
- Cheapest of the Far Infrared Pads
- Decent Varity of Pads
- Has Pads for Pets including horses and livestock
Cons
- Only has 1 Therapy (Far Infrared Heat)
- No Crystals or Negative Ions
- Not a lot of Instructions or Information their site
- No PEMF or Photon Therapies
Thermotex also does not have a ton of information on their site about their pads other than their pad specifications and a brief write up on symptoms and what pad is good for different kinds of pains. Thermotex does have a good variety of different heating pads however. It features:
- Medium Sized Pad
- Smaller Pad for the back
- Knee Pad
- Wrist Pad
- Elbow Pad
- Foot Pad
- Full Sized Pad
Thermotex also did get the win with the best starting price at $97.00 and is just a tad over $50 than the next cheapest far infrared mat. This is because of the fact that Thermotex does not feature any crystals but instead relies on carbon fiber panels to use far infrared heat. Thermotex states that these panels can penetrate your body to up to 2.36 thanks to their version of far infrared heat. You can compare that 2.36 number to Healthy Wave mats which states that their mats can penetrate 3-8 inches deep into your skin and tissue. The difference comes down to the fact that healthy wave uses 3 different varieties of crystals that all work together to produce three different types of therapies that are all dependant on each other that penetrate deeper within your body. .
Thermotex, like Therasage has a pretty standard 30 day money back guarantee with a full 1 year warranty. Overall Thermotex is a good budget far infrared pad but I believe that at an extra $50 the two other therapies are worth it.
5. Biomat Mini Infrared Heating Pad
Lastly is the Biomat by Richway. Biomat is perhaps one of if not the most popular in terms of the infrared heating mat world. Their pads certainly generate some attention as well. Biomat was voted last on this list for a few different reasons. Perhaps the biggest thing that may stand out is the price tag. It is almost $500 more expensive than any of the other standard heating pads. Why may that be?
Pros
- Includes Three Therapies
- One of the First Movers in the Industry
- 3 Year Warranty
Cons
- Not the Greatest Return Policy
- Has only Amethyst Crystals inside some Models
- By far the Most Expensive Mat
- Has an MLM Business Structure
- Not a Lot of Variety of Heating Pads
Biomat is an MLM company (Multi- Level Marketing) company. This means that Richway actively recruits people by giving a percentage of their sales to distributors who successfully recruit new people to sell the mat. This means Biomat has to jack up their price which only hurts the customer. Unfortunately not many of these people make any money because there is just too much competition. Even if you google Biomat you will see countless vendors selling the exact same product.
Biomat also has the least amount of varieties available as their pads consist of the Biomat Mini and the Biobelt. To be fair Biomat spends significantly more of their effort marketing their mats then the heating pads. You can read up on our full review of the Biomat Mat here.
Biomats return policy is not very good and is even more confusing by the fact that it’s tiered. Here it is in full:
RETURN INQUIRY FALLS WITHIN QUALIFIES FOR
- 0-7 days from date of delivery 100% refund*
- 8-14 days from date of delivery 70% refund*
- 15-30 days from date of delivery 50% refund*
- 31+ days from date of delivery no refund*
In my humble opinion 7 days for a 100% refund is harsh, especially if it take some time to start feeling the Mat work. Compare that the Healthy Wave Mat’s 90 day full refund trial period and it makes you scratch your head.
Overall the Biomat mini is a fully functioning 3 therapy mat that does the job, but at over $500 more you have to question if it really is all that worth it.
>>Read the Full Review on the Biomat Infrared Heating Mat Here<<
