May 31, 2002 A low-level heat wrap may be better than over-the-counter pain medications for relieving low-back pain, according to results of a 6-month prospective, randomized trial reported in the May 15 issue of Spine.
“Confirming that this treatment is effective is important to patients because it gives them a treatment option that does not have the potential risk to the liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract that can accompany inappropriate analgesic usage,” lead author Scott F. Nadler, DO, from the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in Newark, says in a news release.
Of 371 subjects with acute, nonspecific low-back pain, 113 were assigned to continuous low-level heat wrap therapy (40 degrees C, 8 hours/day), 113 to acetaminophen 4000 mg/day, 106 to ibuprofen 1200 mg/day, 20 to oral placebo, and 19 to unheated back wrap. The investigator was blinded to treatment groups.
Pain relief on days 1, 3, and 4, and lateral trunk flexibility during treatment were significantly higher with the heat wrap than ibuprofen or acetaminophen, and disability was significantly lower. Reduction in muscle stiffness on day 1 was greater with the heat wrap than with acetaminophen (mean 10.5; P=.001). None of the adverse events was serious, but the ibuprofen group had the highest rate (10.4%).
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