Increased Blood Flow Volume for Whole-body Thermal Therapy with a Hot Pack and Waon Therapy

Thermal therapy for chronic heart failure has been dominated by the use of Waon therapy (WT). We have previously examined the effects of whole-body thermal therapy using hot packs (HPTT), but the changes in blood flow volume with HPTT have not been verified. The purpose of this study was to compare lower extremity blood flow volume before and after HPTT and Waon therapy using venous occlusion plethysmography. We recruited 11 healthy males (28.3±6.2 years). The participants underwent either HPTT and WT randomly over 24 hours. The HPTT protocol involved the patients being in a supine position on a bed for at least 10 minutes. Hot packs were then applied on the back, lower abdomen, and popliteal region for 15 minutes (warming). They were removed after 15 minutes, the participants continued bedrest for 30 minutes (heat-retention). WT was performed as previously reported. Blood flow volume was measured in the right lower leg by venous occlusion plethysmography before and after the thermal therapy. Both thermal therapies significantly increased lower extremity blood flow volume (HPTT: 1.29±0.48⇒2.75±1.07%/min, p=0.001, WT: 1.51±0.85⇒2.83±0.90%/min, p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the pre- and post-implementation values of both thermal therapies, and no interaction effect was observed. Conclusion : HPTT increased lower extremity blood flow volume approximately twice as much as at rest, and its effect was comparable to that of WT.