eng Science and Education Publishing World Journal of Preventive Medicine 2015-07-20 3 3 61 72 10.12691/jpm-3-3-3 JPM2015333 article Jerrold Petrofsky jpetrofsky@llu.edu 1 Michael Laymon 2 Faris Alshammari 2 Iman Akef Khowailed 2 Haneul Lee 3 Loma Linda University, United States Touro University, Henderson Nevada Gachom University, Soul Korea Back, knee and neck pain are the 3 most common disabilities found in outpatient physical therapy. In-clinic therapy is accomplished 2-3 times per week, which is far less than optimal in providing pain relief and healing. Home therapy and self-range of motion is limited by pain. Continuous low level heat wraps are sold over the counter and used to reduce pain. In this study, they were used to reduce pain before home exercise programs to see if this would increase compliance and healing during a 2 week therapy intervention. Two hundred and forty eight subjects participated. There were 3 control groups and 3 investigational groups. Two groups had diagnosed back pain, 2 with knee pain and 2 with neck pain. Subjects were followed for 2 weeks with 2 therapy sessions per week. Progress was measured by analog visual pain scales, range of motion, strength measurements and mobility questionnaires. The groups receiving 6 hours of continuous low level heat wraps per day had less pain each day, participated in significantly more home exercise and increased significantly more range of motion and strength than the control groups. Conclusion- Continuous heat wraps are an important adjunct to rehabilitation outpatient therapy, reducing pain and increasing recovery. http://pubs.sciepub.com/jpm/3/3/3/jpm-3-3-3.pdf heat pain outpatient rehabilitation physical therapy