I have a plug in Walgreens brand heating pad that is nice because it is very light weight...but the need to plug it in limits when I can use it.

I have a microwave one that I use on my ankle when I leave the house (it has velcro so I can wrap it about my ankle and wear it)...but it's heavy so once I lose the benefit of the heat the thing needs to come off immediately because the weight is painful. Sometimes even the heat isn't beneficial enough for me to wear that one depending on the day...it's all about balancing the lesser of the two evils with that one.

I also use the disposable air activated heating patches that you can buy over the counter. Those can get pricey if you use them a lot...but the benefit is that I can wear them on my other RSD areas (like on my neck, back, etc). Mostly I will put one on my neck before leaving the house in cold weather (under a scarf) because my neck is EXTREMELY sensitive to the cold...but I have used one on my ankle when the weight of the microwave one is too much for me. For these I have found the generic ones are fine...no need to buy the fancy name brands that are more expensive.

But what I find the most useful is my space heater because I can have it one next to the chair and I don't need to have ANYTHING touching me to get the benefit of the heat. Need to be careful with it though because if you are too close you can burn yourself or if you have blankets or anything and they touch it while it's on they can burn or start a fire.

Like everything...when you are dealing with any sort of heat you need to use common sense. Which a lot of people, sad to say, do not seem to have. But I find that heat is very soothing for my RSD areas so it's worth the effort.