Clinical Application Of Thermal Therapy Combined With Exercise: Expert Consensus

PURPOSE: This consensus aims to standardize the clinical application of combined thermal therapy and exercise, providing scientific evidence and standardized procedures. METHODS: A five-step procedure was used to develop the consensus, including: (1) A systematic literature review on related studies between 1970 and 2023 in both English and Chinese, with 163 studies were referenced for the final consensus; (2) Completion of the initial draft of the consensus; (3) Solicitation of opinions from experts outside the consulting project team; (4) Modifications based on the expert team's suggestions; (5) Recommendation level evaluation for each consensus statement by the expert team, including strong, moderate and weak Recommendations. Only the statement that achieved 95% or more combined "Strong Recommendation" and "Moderate Recommendation" were finally included. RESULTS: A total of 9 consensus statements met the recommendation standard. It is suggested that the combined treatment of thermal therapy and exercise has demonstrated significant rehabilitative effects for various diseases, such as stroke and other brain injury conditions, hypertension, and arthritis. It is agreed that the treatment should be individualized, the temperature be controlled between 36–40 °C (97–104 °F) with a soaking time of 15–30 minutes. For patients with chronic, the temperature, duration and exercise intensity should be appropriately reduced and closed monitored. Finally, more randomized controlled trial studies are needed. CONCLUSION: This consensus summarizes the clinical effects of thermal therapy combined with exercise and offers practical guidelines for clinicians, rehabilitation specialists, and exercise trainers. The goal is to maximize therapeutic outcomes, enhance the effectiveness of rehabilitation, and improve the patients’ quality of life. Supported by: Strategic Research and Consulting Project of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (2023-149-16)