ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficacy of temperature-controlled self-heated pain relief plasters in the treatment of chronic nonspecific lower back pain, and to investigate the quality of life of patients. MethodsPatients with chronic nonspecific lower back pain were randomly divided into a trial group and a control group. The trial group was treated with temperature-controlled self-heated pain relief plasters, while the control group was treated with meloxicam tablets for oral use. The outcome measures including the visual analogue pain scale (VAS), Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores for the management of lower back pain, and Oswestry disability index (ODI score) were collected before treatment and after 6-month follow-up. SPSS 13.0 software was used for statistical analysis. ResultsA total of 96 patients was included (48 patients in each group), of which 68 patients (36 in the trial group and 32 in the control group) completed the treatment. The results of intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses showed that the total effectiveness rate of the trial group was higher than that of the control group with significant differences (all P values < 0.05). Compared with those before treatment, the JOA scores and ODI scores of the two groups were all improved after 6-month follow-up (all P values < 0.05). But no significant difference was found between the two groups in the two scores after 6-month follow-up (all P values > 0.05). During the follow-up, there were 3 and 8 patients with recurrence of lower back pain in the trial group and the control group, respectively. ConclusionThe clinical effect of temperature-controlled self-heated pain relief plasters in the treatment of chronic nonspecific lower back pain is satisfactory, the quality of life of patients is improved obviously, and the therapy is simple, safe, inexpensive, and worthy of clinical promotion.