Infrared Sauna Heat Therapy for Pain Relief

There is new clinical research on pain that offers evidence to establish a novel class of pain -- "heat responsive pain" or HRP -- which encompasses several common pain conditions that can be treated with the use of heat therapy. Researchers studying HRP have observed remarkable therapeutic benefits by using continuous low-level heat therapy for treating lower-back, upper-body and menstrual pain, all conditions that fall under the new HRP classification.

"For centuries, healthcare providers have used topical heat to relieve minor aches and pains, but today, we are just beginning to understand the full range of therapeutic benefits that heat offers," said pain expert Peter Vicente, Ph.D., Past-President of the American Pain Society and Clinical Health Psychologist, Riverhills Healthcare, Cincinnati, OH. "Through new clinical research, we have found that heat activates complex neurologic, vascular and metabolic mechanisms to mediate the transmission of pain signals and effectively provide relief for a variety of pain conditions."

Heat Therapy More Effective Than Analgesics for Low Back Pain Relief
SOURCE: New Jersey Medical School

At UMDNJ--New Jersey Medical School -Researcher Finds Heat Therapy More Effective Than Analgesics for Low Back Pain Relief -Study Published in May 15 Issue of the Journal Spine
NEWARK, N.J.--(BW HealthWire)--May 15, 2002--Low level heat therapy is more effective than over-the-counter oral medications for relieving low back pain, according to the results of a nationwide study led by a sports medicine researcher at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ).

In the six-month study involving 371 patients, participants were given the maximum recommended non-prescription dosages of ibuprofen and acetaminophen or low level heat therapy for two days to treat acute low back pain.

The results showed that the low level heat therapy provided significantly more pain relief beginning on the first day of treatment than the oral analgesics and that the effects lasted more than 48 hours after the treatment was completed.

"Although clinical guidelines in the U.S. have recommended the use of self-administered heat, this is the first study to compare the effectiveness of topical heat treatment versus oral analgesics for treating muscle pain and stiffness," according to Dr. Scott F. Nadler, director of sports medicine at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in Newark and co-investigator of the study.

"Confirming that this treatment is effective and important to patients because it gives them a treatment option that does not have the potential risk to the liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract than can accompany inappropriate analgesic usage," said Dr. Nadler, who is also an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the medical school.

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