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Moisten a clean washcloth. Microwave the bagged washcloth. Use a kettle as an alternative. Be careful when handling the plastic bag. Seal the washcloth into the bag. Wrap the plastic bag in a clean towel. Place the wrapped compress against your skin.
Run water over the washcloth until it’s saturated with water. It should be dripping wet. Then place the cloth in a resealable plastic bag (like a Ziploc bag). Fold the cloth neatly to ensure it will heat up evenly when you put it in the microwave. Do not seal the bag yet at this point. With the bag left open, place the bag and towel in the center of the microwave. Heat on high for 30–60 seconds, adding time in 10 second increments until it reaches the temperature you’re looking for. If you don’t have a microwave or feel uncomfortable microwaving plastic, you can simply heat some water up in a kettle on the stovetop. Place the washcloth into a bowl and pour the boiling water over the washcloth. Then use tongs to insert it into the plastic bag. You can also apply the warm cloth directly to your skin if you want to get some moist heat, but you must be extremely careful that the compress is not too hot. This type of warm compress is helpful for sinus pain, but be aware of the risk of burns. Because the washcloth was saturated in water, there may be scalding hot steam coming from the plastic bag. Exercise caution when removing the bag and washcloth from the microwave to prevent burns — hot steam can seriously burn the skin even if you don’t get direct contact with the hot object. Use a pair of kitchen tongs to handle the materials if they’re too hot to touch. When you’ve microwaved the wet washcloth to your ideal temperature, you want to seal the steam and heat into the bag to prevent it from cooling too rapidly. Again, be careful not to burn yourself — steam can cause severe burns and it is absolutely essential that you protect yourself. Cover your fingertips with another washcloth or a pair of oven mitts to protect your skin when sealing the bag. You don’t want to apply the hot plastic directly to your skin, so use a clean towel as a protective barrier. Place the plastic bag in the center of the towel, then fold the towel around the heated material. Do so in a way that prevents the bag from sliding out of the towel, and only leaves a single layer of towel between the heat and your skin. Allow the compress to cool if it feels uncomfortably warm. Remember to give your skin a break from the heat every ten minutes, and don’t apply the compress for longer than 20 minutes. If your skin starts to look dark red, purplish, spotty red and white, blistered, swollen or you develop hives, call your doctor. You may have skin damage from the heat.