Search

BACKGROUND It has been well documented at heat reduces pain and increases healing by increasing blood flow in tissue. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to see if the use of low level continuous heat (LLCH) and Ibuprofen used as a home therapy between physical therapy sessions at a clinic resulted in better therapy outcomes in people with chronic neck pain. METHODS Ninety-two patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain were randomly divided into 4 groups; LLCH group, LLCH with Ibuprofen (IP) group, sham LLCH with sham IP group, and controls. All subjects underwent 45 minutes of conventional physical therapy twice a week for 2 weeks. the neck disability index (NDI), subjective pain, range of motion (ROM), strength of the neck, and home exercise compliance were measured. RESULTS Both LLCH and IP significantly reduced pain and NDI score, and increased ROM (p< 0.01). Home exercise compliance in LLCH and LLCH with IP group was significantly higher than the placebo and control groups (p < 0.05). CONCUSION The use of LLCH alone and LLCH with IP as an adjunct to conventional physical therapy for chronic neck pain significantly improved pain attenuation and it causes greater compliance for home.

Petrofsky, JS, Laymon, MS, Alshammari, FS, and Lee, H. Use of low level of continuous heat as an adjunct to physical therapy improves knee pain recovery and the compliance for home exercise in patients with chronic knee pain: a randomized controlled trial. J Strength Cond Res 30(11): 3107-3115, 2016-This study examined if the use of low level continuous heat (LLCH) wraps at home between physical therapy sessions at a clinic resulted in better therapy outcomes in patients with chronic knee pain. Fifty individuals with chronic nonspecific knee pain was randomly allocated to 2 groups: the LLCH group and the placebo group. All subjects underwent 1 hour of conventional physical therapy twice per week for 2 weeks at the outpatient clinic and they were asked to accomplish 1 hour of therapeutic exercise at home each day between sessions. The LLCH group applied LLCH knee wraps for 6 hours at home before home exercise while placebo group took a placebo ibuprofen. (This was done since placebo heat is impossible to use since subjects would notice that the wraps were cold) Before, during, and after intervention, pain intensity, active range of motion of the knee (AROM), knee strength, and home exercise compliance were measured. The LLCH group showed pain attenuation after 2 weeks of therapy sessions (p ≤ 0.05). AROM and strength of the knee significantly improved over time compared to the placebo group. Home exercise compliance was significantly higher in the LLCH group than placebo group (p ≤ 0.05). These results indicated that the use of LLCH as an adjunct to conventional physical therapy for chronic knee pain significantly improved pain attenuation and recovery of strength and movement in patients with chronic knee pain.

Aims: To find out if the use of heat at home between physical therapy sessions results in better therapy outcomes in people with acute, non-specific back pain. Setting: Longitudinal, single-blind study at physical therapy outpatient rehabilitation centres. Methods: A total of 144 people with acute, non-specific back pain underwent 45 minutes to 1 hour of therapy, twice a week for 2 weeks. Participants were instructed to accomplish 30 minutes of therapeutic exercise at home daily. Half of the participants used ThermaCare heat wraps for 6 hours before home therapy. The measures were the OSWESTRY, Roland-Morris and Visual Analogue Pain scales, range of motion of the lower back, strength of the lower back and home exercise compliance. Results: In the heat group, compared to the non-heat group, the OSWESTRY reduced (3 times), strength increased (twice), range of motion increased (3 times), pain reduced (twice) and compliance for home exercise doubled. All differences were significant (p=Conclusions: Using heat at home before home exercise sessions and between therapy sessions was associated with faster recovery from acute, non-specific back pain and better home exercise compliance than was seen in the non-heat group.

Objective A national survey was conducted to determine the current status of physical therapy practice in the intensive care units (ICUs) of Jordanian hospitals. Methods An online survey was sent via email to physical therapists working at Jordanian hospitals. Questions of the survey addressed the physical therapy demographics, staffing, education, training, and barriers of practice. The responses were compared among four different hospital sectors in the country. Results The response rate was 31% (50/161). Thirty-six percent of participants had more than 10 years of experience in physical therapy, and 26% had less than 1 year of experience in the intensive care practice. Staffing of physical therapists working in ICUs relative to the total ICU beds was the highest in public hospitals compared with other hospital sectors. Among all participants, only 4% had received specialized postgraduate ICU training. The barriers to ICU physical therapy practice in Jordan included insufficient staffing, inadequate training, and lack of understanding of physical therapy role for ICU patients. Conclusion The study showed the main barriers to ICU physical therapy practice in Jordan. There is a need for well-structured strategies to overcome these barriers to help improve the delivery of physical therapy services in Jordan.