Research and News
Posts tagged low back pain
Exercises help reduce back pain after prolonged standing
Jun 27th
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Prolonged standing often leads to low back pain, which can lead to occupational disability. Persons with low back pain after prolonged standing often have abnormal EMG activity of the gluteus medius and trunk flexor and extensor muscles. Researchers were interested to see if persons with low back pain after prolonged standing could reduce this pain after a progressive stabilization exercise program.
20 subjects with low back pain after prolonged standing were randomly assigned to an experimental or control exercise program. The 4-week home exercise program included 18 stabilization exercises targeting the abdominal, lower back, and gluteal muscles; one of the exercises was a standing row exercise with elastic resistance. Ten subjects performed exercises 4 times per week and attended one session per week supervised by a physical therapist. The other 10 control subjects did not exercise.
Subjects completing the home exercise program had significantly less low back pain during prolonged standing compared to the non-exercising control group. An exercise program of core stabilization exercises utilizing Thera-Band® elastic resistance may benefit patients with low back pain during prolonged standing, but more research is needed.
REFERENCE Nelson-Wong More >
Are unstable surfaces appropriate for rehabilitation of low back pain patients?
Jun 15th
Unstable surfaces have been suggested to be used in training trunk and core stability. However, the use of unstable surfaces in training has come under question lately with research suggesting lower levels of activation compared to stable surfaces (Behm et al., 2010). The instability requires additional muscle activation to maintain stability. Therapists sometimes prescribe exercises using unstable surfaces such as Thera-Band® Stability Trainers and Stability Discs for patients with low back pain.
Researchers measured trunk muscle activity, lumbar range of motion, and balance during 5 common lumbar stabilization exercises performed on stable and unstable surfaces using an inflatable disk: quadruped, side bridge, modified push-up, squat, and shoulder flexion.
They found that patients with low back pain had adaptive recruitment patterns while maintaining similar levels of balance and lumbar range of motion compared to healthy subjects. There was little increase in electromyographic (EMG) activation among low back pain patients between the stable and unstable surface, and some exercises actually increased lumbar range of motion on unstable surfaces, which is not desirable during lumbar stabilization exercise. Based on these findings, the researchers questioned the need and benefit for using labile surfaces in patients with low back pain.
It’s important to note that the researchers only investigated More >
Elastic resistance hip strengthening exercise program improves low back pain
May 5th
Low back pain has been said to occur in 80% of the population at one time or another. Recently, hip abductor weakness has been implicated as a factor in chronic low back pain. Gluteus medius weakness is thought to result from poor lateral hip stabilization during single-leg stance, leading to abnormal loading of the lumbar spine.
As part of a larger study on hip abductor weakness in patients with non-specific low back pain, Canadian researchers had 10 patients with low back pain perform a 3-week home-based hip abductor strengthening program with an elastic band. The patients used a resistance level of 10-15RM (the maximum resistance that allows only 10 to 15 repetitions). The patients performed hip abduction in the frontal plane and hip abduction with the leg in 45 degrees of extension. They did not increase their resistance levels over the 3 weeks. They were tested for isometric hip abductor strength prior to the study and compared to 10 control subjects without low back pain. Isometric hip strength was normalized to body weight.
The researchers found that patients with low back pain were significantly weaker (31%) than those without low back pain before the study. After the 3-week exercise intervention, the subjects with More >
New Clinical Test for Low Back Pain using Exercise Ball
Dec 2nd
Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common conditions, yet the specific cause of LBP remains unknown in 85% of cases. Some researchers and clinicians postulate that LBP can be caused by neuromuscular impairments in postural and muscular coordination. Unfortunately, few clinical tests exist to quantify these impairments. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden performed a study to evaluate 3 functional tests of muscular functional control of the lumbar spine in patients with LBP. 19 subjects were evaluated during 3 tests: sitting on a 55 cm to 65 cm exercise ball with 1-leg lifted; a unilateral pelvic lift; and single leg stance. Each test looked at altered spine position or compensatory movements of the extremities.
Download a handout of the Sitting Exercise Ball test for LBP here
The researchers used the exercise ball sitting with leg lift test to create a shearing force lateral to the spine, which is thought to increase load on stabilization muscles on the contra lateral side. The authors noted that muscular stabilization capacity is often difficult between the left and right sides of the spine. The investigators found very good inter-rater reliability for the single leg stance and exercise ball leg lift tests, but the tests still need validation.
