I see these new low-heat wraps you can buy at the pharmacy. I’ve been thinking about using it for my back pain. But I thought you weren’t supposed to use heat for more than 20 minutes. These heatwraps last up to eight hours. Can I use it safely?

It’s true that heat should be avoided in an acute injury or trauma. Cold is still advised for the first 24 to 48 hours to reduce swelling and inflammation. Heat can be used carefully during the subacute phase of an injury.

This means the initial inflammatory period has passed. Heat for 10 to 20 minutes helps promote circulation and may speed up the healing process. But it shouldn’t be used in the presence of swelling, redness, or tissue heat without a physician’s approval.

Heat is a common way to treat chronic pain. Chronic pain refers to symptoms that have been present for three months or more. The new heatwrap therapy treatment provides sustained low-level heat. Most wraps last eight hours. You can wear it for any length of time up to eight hours.

Studies show that continuous low level heatwrap therapy reduces pain, muscle stiffness, and disability. As a result, motion and flexibility are improved. Less pain also means less stress. The effect of low-level heatwrap therapy on stress has even been measured.

Researchers measured electrical activity in the brain using electroencephalograms (EEGs). Higher EEG frequencies are linked to pain and an arousal state present during stress. Lower EEG frequencies indicate reduced stress and a lower state of arousal.

The use of a heatwrap left on at least four hours was to decrease EEG frequency reflecting a lower arousal state. Since there is no inflammation present in chronic pain states, the use of prolonged low-level heat is safe and very effective.