Are there substancial benefits of the types of heat used during PE?

I’ve been reading about this subject and the thought has been lingering in my mind now.

Is there any benefits of IR vs water or any other types of heat, or really doesn’t matter?

I would assume water is more beneficial as there’s an effective medium of transferring heat uniformly, unsure about the others. Anyone more studied on this topic chip in? Many thanks!

I’m not the best here, have only tried rice bag, and warm water. But have used heat so little that it didn’t mean a thing. I’m getting good results without any heat at all. That’s my experience.

@Interesting, I’ve noticed I’ve gotten noticeable results when introducing heat into my regimen; the muscle/skin is more looser and relaxed allowing for even greater workout.

On that tangent, it’s struck me that massage therapist would use lotions/infusions to make the tissues and collagens more malleable/purging toxins/etc, sounds like placebo to me but if it’s been held as effective and stood the test of time, it might actually be worth testing alongside the heating process. Hmm.