Heat Therapy for Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions: Actionable Suggestions for Pharmacists from a Panel of Experts
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Pharmacy Encounters: The Patient with a Localized MSK Pain Seeking Advice
2.1. Red Flags’ Identification
2.2. HT vs. Cold Therapy in MSK Disorders
3. Guiding Pharmacists in Appropriately Selecting HT as a Single Therapeutic Option or in Combination with Over-the-Counter Analgesics
4. Conclusions and Perspectives
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
DOMS | Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness |
GP | General Practitioner |
HT | Heat Therapy |
LBP | Low Back Pain |
LHA | Local Heat Application |
MSK | Musculoskeletal |
QoL | Quality of Life |
ROM | Range of Motion |
SHT | Superficial Heat Therapy |
References
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Pharmacist-Led Patient Pain Assessment | Questions |
---|---|
Duration of the pain | When it started and how long it has lasted? Have you been suffering for more than a week? |
How the pain started | What were you doing when the pain started? |
Characteristics of the pain | What does your pain feel like? Point to where it hurts the most. Where does your pain go from there? What makes your pain better or worse? Does the pain get worse during night-time? |
Pain course | Would you consider yourself constantly in pain? |
Pain severity | Please rate your pain by selecting a number between 0 and 10 that best describes your pain at its worst in the last 24 h |
Current pain management | What treatments or medications, if any, are you receiving for your pain? |
Given the increasing burden of MSK disorders among the general population, pharmacists’ proximity to the community should be better exploited to optimize MSK care provision. |
Adequate training and education on MSK pain management, including the use of non-pharmacological approaches, including SHT, would empower pharmacists to provide the patients with well-informed advice and appropriate interventions. |
A hands-on approach to the management of MSK pain is desirable to build and maintain pharmacists’ competency in counselling patients on using SHT as a valuable non-pharmacological option either alone or in combination with over-the-counter pain medications. |
Establishing collaborative relationships with other healthcare professionals, such as GPs, physiatrists, orthopedics, and physiotherapists may facilitate a multidisciplinary approach to patient care and promote a full integration of the pharmacists into MSK pain care pathways. |
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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Nossa, F.; Franco, M.; Magni, A.; Raimondo, E.; Ventriglia, G.; Gervasoni, F. Heat Therapy for Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions: Actionable Suggestions for Pharmacists from a Panel of Experts. Pharmacy 2025, 13, 63. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy13030063
Nossa F, Franco M, Magni A, Raimondo E, Ventriglia G, Gervasoni F. Heat Therapy for Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions: Actionable Suggestions for Pharmacists from a Panel of Experts. Pharmacy. 2025; 13(3):63. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy13030063
Chicago/Turabian StyleNossa, Flavia, Massimiliano Franco, Alberto Magni, Emanuela Raimondo, Giuseppe Ventriglia, and Fabrizio Gervasoni. 2025. "Heat Therapy for Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions: Actionable Suggestions for Pharmacists from a Panel of Experts" Pharmacy 13, no. 3: 63. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy13030063
APA StyleNossa, F., Franco, M., Magni, A., Raimondo, E., Ventriglia, G., & Gervasoni, F. (2025). Heat Therapy for Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions: Actionable Suggestions for Pharmacists from a Panel of Experts. Pharmacy, 13(3), 63. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy13030063