A state-of-the-art ergonomic office chair or frequent trips to the physiotherapist to utilize specialized equipment might not be the ideal treatments for non-specific lower back pain.
An extremely successful method for relieving excruciating lower back pain that cannot be linked to a medical condition or injury has been discovered in Australia through a randomized controlled experiment. This method is completely free and available at any time, anyplace.
All that’s required is a nice, old-fashioned walk.
It turns out that walking every day can help prevent back pain in addition to improving your mood, metabolism, cardiovascular health, and overall quality of life by extending your life. It can also have an effect on your musculoskeletal system.
“We don’t know exactly why walking is so good for preventing back pain,” acknowledges Mark Hancock, a physiotherapist at Macquarie “but it is likely to include the combination of the gentle oscillatory movements, loading and strengthening the spinal structures and muscles, relaxation and stress relief, and release of ‘feel-good’ endorphins.”
Once it develops, low back pain is one of those physical conditions that can be really difficult to treat. After recovering from a low back pain episode, over 70% of patients have another episode within a year.
Previous research has indicated that physical activity can lower the likelihood of reoccurring low back pain; however, these studies have usually involved group exercise regimens that necessitate tight supervision and costly equipment use.
In 2019, a global group of researchers headed by experts from Australia’s Macquarie University scanned the literature and discovered that not a single randomized controlled experiment had examined whether walking alone may treat back pain in the same manner.
Their research is the first to imply that this is the situation. In this trial, 701 people—more than 80 percent of whom were women—who had recently gone through a pain-related episode lasting at least a day—between their buttock crease and their 12th rib—were enrolled.
Half of the sample did not obtain back pain treatment for a year or more. Half of the participants engaged in a walking and education intervention, which comprised six education sessions led by a certified physiotherapist. The physiotherapist guided the participants through an at-home walking regimen and the science of pain.
By the six-month mark, the participants were expected to find the time and energy to walk for at least thirty minutes, five times a week. Participants were instructed to notify researchers via email if their low back discomfort returned and were severe enough to restrict their physical activity.
Researchers discovered that the walking intervention group experienced fewer episodes of crippling back pain than the control group after the three-year study was over.
Compared to 112 days for the control group, those who frequently walked for exercise had a median of 208 days before suffering their first recurrence of low back discomfort.
Lead author and health scientist Natasha Pocovi states, “It not only enhanced people’s quality of life, but it also cut down on the need for them to seek medical attention and the amount of time they missed from work by about half.”
Up to 843 million people could experience lower back discomfort by 2050, according to some projections. It is currently the primary cause of disability globally, most likely as a result of sedentary lifestyles in modern times.
For both young and old, wealthy and poor, walking is an accessible and low-risk form of physical activity. It is also among the simpler athletic pursuits to fit into a hectic schedule.
Walking briskly is a prophylactic treatment for back discomfort that should no longer be disregarded, given its many potential benefits.
