Journal of Advanced Biomedical & Pathobiology Research Vol.4 No.2, June 2014, 1-10 1 Efficacy of Skin Interface Temperature Using Local Ricebag For Treatment of Soft Tissue Injury Rahmat Adnan a , Nurhidayah Hamza, Nur Amalina Mansor, Norasrudin Sulaiman, Shariman Ismadi Ismail a Sports Science Center of Studies, Faculty of Sports Science & Recreation UiTM Shah Alam 40450 , Malaysia b Rehabilitation Department, Rehabilitation Department, Tengku Mizan Military Hospital Wangsa Maju Ampang Malaysia rahmatadnan@salam.uitm.edu.my, alangr3@gmail.com ISSN: 2231-9123 ABSTRACT Objective: To determine skin interface temperature during application of cold local rice bag in acute ankle and knee injury and chronic back pain patients.Design: Repeated measures.Participants: Sixty female and male patients with acute knee and ankle injury and chronic back pain. Intervention: The cold local rice bag was applied to the injured area for 20 minutes duration. Main outcome measure: Skin interface temperature was monitored every minute during the 20-minute ice application. Result the cold local rice bag was used for acute injury: From the baseline (30.82 o C ± 0.81) the temperature dropped drastically to a mean temperature of 26.67 o C (± 2.12) after 1 minute of treatment. Subsequently, the temperature continued to drop for a period of 16 minutes (22.9 o C ± 0.73). However, the temperature then remained at a plateau for the next 2 minutes (23.0 o C ± 0.75) before slightly increasing during the remaining 2 minutes until the 20-minutes treatment was ended. At the end of the local rice bag treatment, the mean temperature recorded was 23.2 o C (± 0.83). For chronic back pain a heated local rice bag was used, where the mean temperature at baseline was 31.60 o C (± 0.67). However the temperature increased rapidly after 1 minute of treatment with a mean temperature of 34.06 o C (± 0.82). Meanwhile, the temperature was increased progressively until 15 minutes (40.05 o C ± 0.74). The temperature slightly dropped after 20 minutes of treatment, and at the end of the local rice bag treatment, the mean temperature recorded was 39.28 o C (± 0.95). Conclusion The result of this study showed significant reductions in the skin interface temperatures from the baseline until completion of the 20 minute treatment. The local rice bag had characteristics similar to that of others including cryotherapy and thermotherapy modalities. Clinically, the results indicated that the local rice bag can be applied for treatment of soft tissue injury as a viable alternative to cryotherapy and thermotherapy modalities. Keywords: Rice bag; skin interface; heat and cold temperature; knee and chronic back 1. Introduction Cryotherapy or the use of ice or cold treatment in a therapeutic setting, has become one of the most common treatments in sport medicine (Merrick et al., 1993). Cryotherapy is the use of cold compression in the treatment of acute trauma and subacute injury and for the decrease of discomfort after reconditioning and rehabilitation (Knight, 1982). Moreover, Mcgriff-Lee (2006) citing Broken and Bierman (1955) noted that for the immediate care of acute sport injuries, cryotherapy has become the most widely accepted modality. Furthermore, with ice