By: Shelagh McNally for Back1Lower back pain is a common problem – more than 50 percent of all working Americans will have some kind of back problem within the next five years. The estimated yearly cost for treating back pain is between 20 to 50 billion dollars a year. But, there may be hope for the working man and woman.
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Recommendations for handling back pain:
Use non-narcotic, anti-inflammatory pain drugs.
Get back to your normal range of activities as quickly as you can.
Exercise wisely.
Use either heat or ice, depending on what works for you.
Massage or acupuncture may help control back pain.
Be patient. No single treatment has shown to be the one cure but most people get better within 60 days.
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According to a study conducted at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, there is a safe, simple and effective treatment for lower back pain. The results, published in the December 2005 issue of The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, described how continuous low-level heat wrap therapy (CLHT) significantly reduced acute lower back pain. The study gathered 43 patients between the ages of 20 to 62 and divided them into two groups. Eighteen of the participants were given only pain management and back pain educational sessions. The remaining 25 received the same intervention but also wore heat wraps on the lower back under clothing for at least eight hours. ThermaCare® HeatWraps use an exothermic chemical reaction to deliver a low level of constant heat. Both groups took pain relief medication as needed. Each group was assessed for pain intensity and pain relief four times a day for three days. Pain was then measured during three follow-up visits. Patients also completed the Roland-Morris Low Back Disability Questionnaire and the Lifeware Musculoskeletal Abbreviated Assessment Form to further assess their progress.
Researchers found the CLHT patients had significantly less pain with a 52 percent pain reduction and 43 percent improvement in pain relief after one day of treatment. The other group had no reduction in pain. “The people who used the heat wraps had more mobility with less pain along with significantly reduced pain intensity, increased pain relief, and improved disability scores during and after treatment,” commented Dr. Edward J. Bernacki, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins and the study’s principal. Bernacki directs the Hopkins Department of Health, Safety and the Environment.
CLHT treatment could prove to be a valuable resource for business and employers. “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 Bernacki. While there are guidelines for treating back pain, the information has not filtered down to occupational management. Loss of productivity and episodic disability due to back problems remains a huge problem in the work force.
“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. Physicians and other healthcare providers in an occupational environment can tell patients that CLHT is a safe and effective alternative for treating acute low back plain,” commented Bernacki.
Dr. John Loeser, professor of neurosurgery and anesthesiology at Seattle’s University of Washington School of Medicine agrees with findings. But he cautions about being overly optimistic since no treatment will speed up the healing. In 90 percent of most cases, the back heals itself within two months. “Heat wraps don't heal damaged tissue, but they do make many people feel better. And that allows them to resume their normal activities. If a treatment controls pain while nature solves the problem, it is worthwhile.”
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