Paraffin is classified as which type of heating modality?

• A. Superficial thermotherapy
• B. Deep thermotherapy
• C. Cryotherapy
• D. Electrical stimulation

Answer: (A)

Parafin therapy is a superficial heating modality. It delivers warmth to the skin and the shallow tissues just beneath it, not deep into muscles or internal structures. This makes it especially useful for distal extremities like hands and feet to relax tissues, improve tissue elasticity, and ease pain before movement or stretching. The heat from paraffin remains near the surface, typically penetrating only a small depth—enough to affect the skin and subcutaneous layers but not deep tissues. If you needed heating deeper in the body, you would use modalities designed for deeper heat like ultrasound or diathermy. Cryotherapy is cooling, not heating, and electrical stimulation is not categorized as a heating modality, even though some devices can generate warmth indirectly.