Efficacy of infrared radiation therapy on chronic low back pain: a case study of National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, South East, Nigeria

Abstract

Infrared radiation therapy is a modality widely used in Physiotherapy for the management of pain. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of six weeks infrared radiation therapy on pain intensity in subjects suffering from nonspecific low back pain. The study was a pre-test post-test one group pre-experimental design. A total of fifteen (7 males and 8 females) of black African origin clinically diagnosed with nonspecific chronic low back pain that met the inclusion criteria were recruited for the study, and completed the six weeks study. The subjects received infrared radiation therapy on the lower back region in prone lying for 30 minutes, three times weekly, during the treatment period, for six weeks. Subjects’ pre and post treatment pain level scores were assessed using the 10 point numerical rating pain scale. The data was analyzed using the paired sample t-test. Findings from the study showed significant decrease in the means of the pretest and post-test scores of the variables by 95% C.I at p < 0.05. Six weeks infrared radiation therapy is effective in reducing pain in chronic low back pain.

Keywords: chronic low back pain, pain intensity, infrared radiation therapy