By Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD · Published March 5, 2026 · 5 min read Watch the Full Video If you are struggling with back pain , one of the simplest and most effective treatments may already be in your home. Heat therapy — using heating pads, wraps, or portable heat patches — has been shown in clinical research to reduce pain and improve function more effectively than common over-the-counter painkillers. In my practice, I routinely recommend heat as a first-line approach for acute

Written by Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD — Board-Certified Sports Medicine Physician Published: March 4, 2026 | Last Updated: March 4, 2026 Back pain is one of the most common complaints I encounter in my sports medicine practice — and one of the most misunderstood. Patients arrive convinced they have a serious spinal problem, that their MRI findings explain their symptoms, or that rest is the only safe path forward. These beliefs are not only unsupported by current evidence; they ac

Written by Dr. Jeffrey Peng, MD — Board-Certified Sports Medicine Physician Published: March 3, 2026 | Last Updated: March 3, 2026 One of the most common and overlooked causes of low back pain is not actually in the low back at all — it is in the gluteus medius muscle. In my practice, I frequently see patients who have been treated for lumbar spine problems for months or even years, only to discover that the true source of their pain is myofascial trigger points in the glute