A heating element for metallic plastic injection nozzles with a tubular hollow metal body (2), which surrounds the nozzle body of an injection molding device in a heat-transmitting manner. The hollow body has an outer and/or inner jacket surface with one or more grooves (3, 4), extending in a thread-like manner at least in some sections, with inserted tubular heating body structure (with a heating body or bodies) (5). The heating body structure has electric terminals (6, 7) projecting away from the hollow body (2). In addition, a thermocouple, with a sensor tip (9) is in thermal contact with the material wall (15) of the plastic injection nozzle (17) in an end area of the tube wall, is arranged in a guide groove (4). To ensure that the temperature of the material tube, which temperature is to be regulated, is homogeneous at always the same measuring point and is shielded from the direct effect of heating, the sensor tip (9) is fixed in a heat-transmitting manner in a groove-like recess (11) of a tube wall section (20), which is thermally separated from the tube wall (2′) by two front-side notches (21, 22) and which, being subject to a radial pressing force in a radially flexible manner, is in gap-free, two-dimensional thermal contact with the nozzle body (15).