BALTIMORE, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A Johns Hopkins University study in Maryland suggests the use of continuous low-level heat wrap therapy significantly reduces acute low back pain.
The researchers found such heat wrap therapy also reduces related disabilities and improves occupational performance of employees in physically demanding jobs.
"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 Dr. Edward Bernacki, associate professor of medicine and the study's principal investigator.
"The dramatic relief we see in workers using CLHT shows that this therapy has clear benefits for low back pain and that it plays an important role in pain management," he added. "Physicians and other health care providers in an occupational environment can tell patients that CLHT is a safe and effective alternative for treating acute low back plain."
The study appears in the December issue of The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
