Comparison of the effect of infra-red and hot pack on reduction of pain associated with lumbar discopathy

Disk herniation is one of the causes of low back pain that 90% of people experience this pain. There are many pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods to alleviate the low back pain, such as physiotherapy techniques (infra-red and hot pack, etc.). In this study we investigated the effect of infra-red and hot pack on the low back pain associated with disk herniation. In this experimental study, 60 patients with disk herniation were selected and divided randomly into infra-red and hot pack groups. Severity of the pain was measured on the basis of a numerical rating scale up to 10. Intervention was performed three times a week for one month. Severity and duration of pain were measured before and after intervention. SPSS software was used for data analysis. The results of this study showed that the mean scores of pain severity and duration in infra-red group was 65.67±8.33 minutes which decreased to 44.33±5.60 minutes after intervention. The respective values for the hot pack group were 81±8.6 and 50.33±5.60 minutes before and after intervention. Effect of infra-red and hot pack on pain reduction was the same after intervention but infra-red was more effective in reducing the duration of pain. Considering the effect of infra-red, it can be recommended for pain reduction as a safe non pharmacological method. Hot pack is also effective in reducing pain by producing humid heat and patients’ compliance with this method will be higher.