Back pain is a common surge on health that threatens to halt our productivity at work and in the gym, but rather than relying on fad treatments, a new study published in The Lancet could bring a sigh of relief to sufferers everywhere. In fact, adults with a history of lower back pain were shown to last almost twice as long without a repeat back pain occurrence simply by walking regularly.
How was the study conducted?
The clinical trail, dubbed ‘WalkBack’ was conducted by the Spinal Pain Research Group at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. It noted that “Exercise is recommended to prevent recurrence, but the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an accessible and low-cost intervention, such as walking, is yet to be established.” So, in what is thought to be a world-first study, researchers aimed to answer that question by recruiting adults from across Australia who had recently recovered from an episode of any non-specific lower back pain that was not attributed to an official diagnosis. In total, 701 participants were then randomly assigned into 2 groups:
- Group 1: Intervention group, assigned to an individual walking program in addition to 6 physiotherapist guided sessions
- Group 2: Control group, no assigned walking program or guided sessions
The scientists then followed the progress of the subjects for up to three years.
What were the results?
“An individualised, progressive walking and education intervention significantly reduced low back pain recurrence,” found the experts. The amount of walking assigned to an intervention group subject was depended on their starting health, and was re-examined throughout the study with an aim to have them walking as regularly as possible. By the end of the report, researchers concluded that adults with a history of lower back pain were able to go almost twice as long without a repeated back pain episode than those in the control group. (An average of 208 days compared to 112 days).
“Findings from this trial have important implications,” read the report, explaining that this demonstration of how a small number of health coaching sessions and the adoption of a walking program can reduce occurrences of lower back pian, and could be a gamechanger in healthcare. With more than 600 million people around the world plagued by back pain, accessible and cost-effective solutions are always more than welcome as relates to getting us active.
“We believe it is likely the two components complement each other,” added the report. “with education helping to overcome avoidance and fear of movement, while the health coaching and walking programme resulted in behaviour change. Finally, although the current trial focused on walking, future trials can explore whether other forms of recreational exercise (e.g., swimming or cycling) can provide similar benefits.” Now, where did I put my walking shoes?