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Osteoarthritis - Evidence
Evidence on thermotherapy (hot or cold packs)
There is no evidence on the effect of hot packs, and little weak evidence on the effect of cold thermotherapy on osteoarthritis.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) found three small RCTs of the effect of cold packs on osteoarthritis, one of which assessed pain relief [National Collaborating Centre for Chronic Conditions, 2008].
- Pain:
- One RCT found no significant difference between cold thermotherapy and control.
- Function:
- Three RCTs had inconsistent/mixed results.
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