Heat Therapy for Fibromyalgia

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to see if heat therapy intervention via hot water immersion (i.e., a hot tub) is an effective treatment for patients with Fibromyalgia.

Clinical Trial Description

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a complex and difficult-to-treat painful medical condition and is marked by chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain, decreased pain threshold, and comorbid symptomatology (e.g. fatigue, trouble thinking). Several factors appear to play a role in the pathophysiology of FM: abnormal pain processing, abnormal autonomic nervous and neuroendocrine system function, genetics, and environmental triggers. The prognosis for recovery in traditional medicine is generally poor and current pharmacological treatments for FM are often insufficient to control persistent symptoms. As such, complementary medicine and alternative lifestyle approaches are needed. Heat therapy, such as saunas and hot tubs, has been used historically for its presumed therapeutic benefits, and emerging research highlights the benefits of heat therapy on metabolic and cardiovascular disease risks. Finnish saunas, which result in total-body heating, have shown beneficial clinical effects for rheumatic patients and new studies are needed to determine if heat therapy could improve pain symptoms in patients with FM. The short-term goal of the investigators is to determine, in a pilot clinical study, that heat therapy intervention via hot water immersion is a safe and efficacious treatment for pain in patients with FM. The overall hypothesis is that heat therapy intervention will improve clinical pain severity and associated dysfunction in a cohort of FM patients and that the anti-inflammatory actions of heat shock proteins may mediate this improvement. The proposed interdisciplinary study will provide data regarding treatment efficacy and will explore potential molecular and physiologic processes that may underlie improvement in pain symptoms after heat therapy intervention for FM. Furthermore, these key pilot studies will provide important preliminary data for future studies. ;

Study Design

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

Clinical Trial Details

NCT number	NCT03768947
Study type	Interventional
Source	University of Kansas Medical Center
Contact
Status	Completed
Phase	N/A
Start date	July 19, 2019
Completion date	March 10, 2020

View Details

See also
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Active, not recruiting	`NCT04084795` - Augmentation of EMDR With tDCS in the Treatment of Fibromyalgia	N/A
Completed	`NCT03129906` - Impact of the Restriction of Sources of Gluten in Fibromyalgia Patients	N/A
Completed	`NCT05058911` - Exposure-based Cognitive Behavior Therapy vs Traditional Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Fibromyalgia	N/A
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Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.

Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.