Dry sauna therapy is beneficial for patients with low back pain
Cho EH, Kim NH, Kim HC, Yang YH, Kim J, Hwang B
Anesthesia and pain medicine · 6 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Controlled clinical trial (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- National Research Foundation
- Government
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- Government
- U.S. Forest Service
- Government
- Korea Forest Service
- Government
- Korea Forest Service Grant
- Grants
- National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2017R1D1A1B03035527); Korea Forest Service (S111616L040110)
Based on 5 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2019-10-31 · Anesth Pain Med (Seoul) · vol. 14 · issue 4 · pp. 474–479
- Cited
- 9 citations · more than 51% of similar papers · 0.1× the field average
- References
- 23 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY-NC
- Research areas
- Thermoregulation and physiological responses · Myofascial pain diagnosis and treatment · Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements
- Keywords
- Medicine, Anesthesia, Physical therapy
6 authors
From KR
- Eun-Hee ChoKangwon National University Hospital
- Nam–Hun KimKangwon National University
- Hyoung‐Chun KimKangwon National University
- Yun-Ho YangKangwon National University Hospital
- Ju-Youn KimKangwon National University Hospital
- Byeongmun Hwang · correspondingKangwon National University Hospital
Abstract
Background
Dry sauna has been very popular as an alternative therapy for promoting health among people who want to improve their health condition without relying on pharmaceuticals. The aim of this study was to investigate whether dry sauna therapy improved quality of life and reduced pain in participants with low back pain.
Methods
Study participants comprised a total of 37 consecutive patients who were over 20 years of age with low back pain. Dry sauna therapy was performed twice per day for 5 consecutive days over the course of 1 week, thus comprising a total of 10 sessions each of 15 min of exposure to a 90°C dry sauna.
Results
The verbal numerical rating scale (VNRS) and Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores were significantly reduced after dry sauna therapy (P < 0.001 for both). VNRS pain scores had a median (range) of 5 (2-8) before dry sauna therapy and 3 (0-8) after dry sauna therapy. ODI scores had a median (range) of 12 (2-24) before dry sauna therapy and 8 (1-17) after dry sauna therapy. The proportion of participants who reported successful treatment (excellent + good) was 70%. No adverse effects were observed related to dry sauna therapy.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that dry sauna therapy may be useful to improve quality of life and reduce pain in patients with low back pain. Therefore, pain physicians can recommend dry sauna therapy as an alternative and complimentary therapy for patients with low back pain.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY-NC).
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