Pain Relief –  Research Heat Wraps

Heat works better than drugs alone

Nurses and others with physically demanding jobs who are in pain from an acute lower back injury can get significant relief from a heat wrap worn over the lower back, Johns Hopkins researchers said.

Continuous low-level heat therapy should be considered as an adjunct or even an alternative to pharmacological management of acute lower back pain, said Edward J. Bernacki, M.D., M.P.H., of Johns Hopkins. He called the relief dramatic.

Relief from pain was improved more than 50 percent for the heat-therapy group and less than 50 percent for the standard care group. After one day, participants wearing the wrap improved by nearly two points from baseline on a 10-point pain-intensity scale, compared with less than one point of improvement in the standard care group. The benefits of heat therapy were maintained through two weeks of follow-up, the researchers said, even after accounting for pain medication usage, which was roughly equal in both groups. "The pain intensity reduction shown in this study did not disappear after controlling for pain medication usage, suggesting that the benefits of topical heat resulted in extra pain reduction beyond that associated with pain medications alone," the authors said. Throughout the two-week study period, the heat-therapy group also had significantly greater improvements in mobility.

The heat wrap was put through its paces in a study of 43 nurses, nursing aides, and maintenance personnel who were treated at an occupational therapy clinic after sustaining back injuries,  Standard pain medications were prescribed to all participants.  All participants were treated identically based on their symptoms. 25 of the  participants were randomly selected to wear a heat wrap eight hours a day for three days. All participants kept a pain diary and log of medications they took.

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