Heat-Wrap Therapy Reduces Low-Back Pain, Improves Mobility

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found that the use of continuous, low-level heat-wrap therapy “significantly reduces acute low back pain and related disability and improves occupational performance of employees in physically demanding jobs suffering from acute low back pain.” The study was published in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

"With recent concerns around the safety of oral pain medications, both patients and physicians are considering alternative treatment options for acute low back pain," said Edward J. Bernacki, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor at the university’s School of Medicine and the study’s lead researcher. "The dramatic relief we see in workers using [heat-wrap therapy] shows that this therapy has clear benefits for low back pain and that it plays an important role in pain management. Physicians and other health-care providers in an occupational environment can tell patients that [heat-wrap therapy] is a safe and effective alternative for treating acute low back plain."

Back-pain patients ages 20 to 62 were placed into one of two groups: 18 patients received education about pain management and back therapy; 25 patients received the same education as well as three consecutive days of heat-wrap therapy for eight continuous hours. The heat-wrap therapy consisted of wearing a TheramCare HeatWrap under clothing. Both groups were measured for ongoing pain and pain relief.

“Patients who received [heat-wrap therapy] for low back pain over a three-day period in conjunction with pain-management education experienced rapid and significant reduction in pain intensity and greater pain relief when compared to patients who only received pain education,” a statement on the university’s Web site noted. “Patients on [heat-wrap therapy] showed a 52-percent reduction in pain intensity and a 43-percent improvement in pain relief within one day of treatment as compared to the reference group.”

The researchers note that back pain is a common and costly problem in the United States, with about half of all adults suffering from acute low back pain at least annually. They added that it is estimated that the annual productivity loss from this condition totals between $20 and $50 billion.