[ad_1]
Walking three times a week to relieve back pain almost halves the risk of it coming back, according to a first-of-its-kind study.
About 800 million people worldwide have low back pain, and seven out of 10 who recover have relapses within a year.
The researchers said the findings, published in the Lancetostentatious walking can have a ‘profound impact’ on the world’s leading cause of disability.
“You don’t have to walk 5 or 10 km every day to get these benefits,” said Mark Hancock, senior author of the study and professor of physical therapy at Macquarie University in Australia.
“The important thing to remember is to start with short walks, then gradually increase the distance and intensity as your fitness increases. Walking is an inexpensive, widely available, and simple exercise that almost anyone can engage in, regardless of geographic location, age, or socioeconomic status.
Hancock said people who walked three to five times a week, for an average of 130 minutes a week, stayed pain-free almost twice as long as those who didn’t get any treatment.
Taking regular steps also improves their quality of life, and the time they have to leave work is almost halved, he added.
In the world’s first randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of walking in preventing the recurrence of low back pain, researchers followed 701 adults for three years who had recently experienced an episode of low back pain.
Half were assigned to a walking scheme and educational sessions by a physical therapist, while the others were assigned to a control group and given no specific intervention.
“The intervention group had fewer incidents of activity-limiting pain compared to the control group and a longer mean time before relapse, with a median of 208 days compared to 112 days,” Hancock said. “The risk of relapse requiring care-seeking was almost halved in those in the intervention group.
“We gave them a rough guide to building up to 30 minutes, five times a week, over a period of six months. After three months, most of the people who participated were walking three to five days a week for an average total of 130 minutes.
He added: “We don’t know exactly why walking is so good at preventing back pain, but it is likely to involve a combination of gentle rocking movements, loading and strengthening of spinal structures and muscles, relaxation and stress relief, and the release of endorphins to ” good feeling’.
“And of course, we also know that walking comes with many other health benefits, including cardiovascular health, bone density, healthy weight and improved mental health.”
Rory Fagan joined the trial in 2021, seeking relief from a back injury sustained playing rugby in his 20s. In the three years since he has been walking three times a week, he has had only one episode of debilitating pain.
“The thing about back pain is that most people’s instinct is to do nothing because even taking a step can send a jolt or spasm down your back,” he said. “Exercise is a long-term pain reliever, so if you have a flare-up, you should keep doing what you can.”
Prof Camilla Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners in the UK, welcomed the research and said it was “important” that the results were “taken on board when developing and updating clinical guidelines”.
Dr Atali Redwood-Brown, senior lecturer in physical activity and health at Nottingham Trent University, said the findings had “the potential to transform preventative care, offering a scalable solution that could benefit millions”.
[ad_2]
