Share:
Mindfulness-based stress reduction for chronic back pain
Back pain is a common disease. Many Germans suffer from chronic low back pain and are looking for ways and means to successfully treat their condition. The avoidance of stress and the use of stress relief therapies, according to a study in back pain promising therapies.
Are you one of those people who constantly have low back pain? If so, certain forms of stress therapies could help treat the chronic back pain. Researchers from Seattle's Group Health Research Institute found in a recent study that participating in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) or cognitive-behavioral therapy helps reduce our chronic low back pain. The physicians published their study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Scientists are testing behavioral treatments to reduce low back pain. (Image: underdogstudios / fotolia.com) The two treatment methods have great potential for back pain
Back pain plagues countless people worldwide. For a long time, physicians worldwide have been looking for ways to successfully reduce back pain. The US scientists have now found that certain therapies can help treat back pain. Mindfulness-based stress reduction and cognitive behavioral therapy promise lasting and significant improvements in back pain, explain the physicians. At MBSR attention is focused on feelings, thoughts and sensations.
This form of treatment is often supported by yoga and meditation. Cognitive behavioral therapy informs those affected about pain and how their reaction affects our everyday lives. These two treatments could be just right for fighting lower back disorders, Dr. Daniel Cherkin of the Group Health Research Institute.
Study examines effects of three treatment methods on back pain
In lower back disease, sufferers are placed in a situation where they become anxious, stressed, tired, or irritable. Unfortunately, many of these people have not had good health care experience and feel that they can not really be helped, explains Drs. Cherkin. They often feel alone and have the feeling that their pain can not be eliminated. The researchers studied 342 patients with unexplained chronic low back pain in their study. These were divided into three groups. In the first group, standard measures were taken to deal with the pain, explain the doctors. The second group used MBSR, the third group underwent cognitive behavioral therapy. After six months, the researchers looked at the subjects for significant improvements. For the MBSR group, 61 percent noted such an improvement. In the CBT group, the figure was 58 percent, while only 44 percent of patients in the standard measures group saw a significant improvement, say the experts. In a meaningful improvement, sufferers were much less hampered by their back pain than before treatment, add the physicians.
Those affected have often lost confidence in our healthcare system
In addition, about 45 percent of the MBSR and behavioral therapy groups reported that their back pain was significantly lower after treatment was completed. Only 27 percent of patients in the group treated by standard measures reported such marked improvement in back pain, the researchers explain. Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages in the alternative treatment methods. There is a low probability of adverse events or transient pain spikes. In the MBSR group, such adverse effects occurred in about 30 percent of cases. In the behavioral therapy group, the value was still around ten percent, say the experts.