Hot Fomentation of the Lower-Back for Stress Relief in Students Preparing for a National Examination of Clinical Medical Technologist

The objective of this study is to propose a method of hot fomentation for a lower-back care for stress relief. Experimental evidence statistically validated this approach for relieving stress. In the experiment, hot fomentation was applied to twenty senior college students (from 21 to 22 years old) who had complained of stiffness in their shoulder and lumbar region of the back during the month prior to a national examination for clinical Medical technologist. Before and after the 30-minute hot fomentation care with a hot-pack, we measured their psychological and physical reactions. The changes in their psychological reactions were evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS) to assess the degree of comfort. The physical reactions were evaluated using the cortisol level of blood serum as an index of stress. (1) The experimentally determined VAS values indicated that hot fomentation significantly relieved stress. (2) The cortisol level of blood serum (a proven neuroimmunological index of stress) decreased significantly following the hot fomentation care. (3) However, both the changes of VAS values and the cortisol level changes of blood serum are not significantly correlated. We found that lower-back hot fomentation by a hot-pack provided a significant stress relief effect, both mentally and physically, for the 20 students who planned to take a national examination of Clinical Medical technologist. However, both the psychological and physical outcomes were not significantly correlated. This lack of correlation indicates that the anxiety relief might exceed the physical stress relief.