Scientists Reveal ‘Simple’ Exercise That Wards Off Back Pain

Scientists have discovered a simple, easy-to-use treatment for lower back pain that they hope will help the more than 600 million people worldwide who suffer from the condition.

According to the World Health Organization, chronic and short-term pain in the lower back can affect anyone and is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Recurring pain is very common, with 70 percent of people who recover from the condition relapsing within a year.

“It’s now well known that back pain is complex and a range of factors – physical, psychological, social and lifestyle – contribute to the development of back pain,” said Natasha Pokovi, a postdoctoral research fellow in Macquarie University’s School of Health Sciences. Newsweek.

“Low back pain often occurs when the back structures (muscles, joints, discs, etc.) are put under more strain than they can tolerate, for example by lifting something that is too heavy, adopting an awkward position, or maintaining a particular position for too long. Low back pain can result from a direct blow or injury, but very rarely it can have more serious causes such as fracture, infection or cancer.”

Previous studies have shown that group-based exercise programs, usually with close clinical supervision and the use of specialist equipment, can be effective in reducing back pain. But this approach can be expensive and not everyone can afford it. But research by Poccovi and colleagues at Macquarie University shows that effective management and prevention can be achieved without spending a penny – by simply walking.

“Walking is a low-cost, widely available and simple exercise that almost anyone can do, regardless of geographic location, age or socio-economic status,” Mark Hancock, professor of physiotherapy at Macquarie University and lead author of the study, said in a statement.

The study followed 701 adults who had recently recovered from back pain. Half of the participants received a personalized walking program and six education sessions from a physiotherapist over a six-month period, while the other half served as a control group. Researchers then followed up with the participants for one to three years.

“The intervention group experienced less activity-limiting pain than the control group and the mean time to recurrence was longer, a median of 208 days compared with 112 days in the control group,” Hancock said.

In other words, participants who walked regularly went almost twice as long without their back pain recurring compared to those who didn’t.

So why do we see such a positive association?

“The benefits of walking are likely due to gentle movement, loading and strengthening spinal structures and muscles, relaxation and stress relief, and the release of feel-good chemicals endorphins,” said Pocoví, the study’s first author. “Education by physiotherapists was aimed at helping people better understand pain, reducing fears associated with exercise and movement, and giving them confidence in managing their pain.”

Walking also has a variety of health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, bone density, weight management and mental health.

“It’s difficult to say which of these factors contributed most to preventing back pain, but it was probably a combination of them,” Pocoví said.

You don’t even need to walk 20,000 steps a day to see these results: “In our experiment, we individually determined how far each person would walk, based on a number of factors, including their age, physical ability, preferences, and available time,” Pocoví says. “We gave them a rough guide of walking five times a week, gradually working up to 30 minutes.”

“After three months, most participants were walking three to five days a week for an average of 130 minutes.”

But walking alone may not be enough to alleviate recurring back pain. “Pain is complex and can be caused by several factors,” says Pocoví. “On the lifestyle side, back pain often combines with stress, anxiety, unhealthy habits (such as a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and alcohol use), obesity, and lack of or inadequate sleep. Addressing these can be important for patients where these are issues.”

Still, walking is a simple way to self-manage your back pain. “Our study showed that this effective, convenient form of exercise could potentially be implemented on a much larger scale than other forms of exercise,” Pocoví says.

Have a tip about a health story Newsweek should cover? Have a question about autism? Let us know at [email protected].