Cheap and effective therapy for back pain

Cheap and effective therapy for back pain? Researchers from the UK universities of Warwick and Oxford have found in a study that group behavioral therapy improves functional acute and chronic low back pain.

Researchers from the UK universities of Warwick and Oxford have found in a study that group behavioral therapy improves functional acute and chronic low back pain.The researchers published their findings in the journal „The Lancet“. According to them, they took the data from about 600 patients. They got them from over 50 practices of general practitioners from almost all over England. The participants of the study first received one-and-a-half hour individual counseling. This was followed six times (also one and a half hour) group behavioral sessions. Twelve months later the participants received two questionnaires about their back pain. When evaluating it turned out that in 60 percent had the back pain besussert lasting. In a control group of the study, it was only 31 percent.

According to the scientists around Professor Sarah Lamb, this form of therapy would be a cost-effective and effective alternative to existing treatments such as physiotherapy.

They attribute the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy to damage to the intervertebral discs. These are slices between the vertebral bodies of our spine. They have a gelatinous core and absorb shocks and allow a certain range of motion. When the outer ring of the intervertebral disc breaks, material may leak out and press on surrounding structures, such as nerves. This widespread grievance seems to be in the minds of many people as a species „Horror Story“ to have established. Thus, many people with back pain may respond with a restraint and spare themselves physically. Awareness of these mechanisms, combined with an increase in physical activity, was considered the goal of talk therapy. These results are also substantiated by findings that herniated discs can often be asymptomatic.

Complaints of the lower back („Low back pain“ LBP) are an increasing problem, especially in the western industrialized countries. They are responsible for a large number of sick leave and work incapacities and are causing ever higher costs in health care systems. Other novel treatment approaches, such as the fascial distraction model (FDM), rely on an increased awareness of the symptoms, coupled with increased movement and confidence in self-perception.

It is hoped that more studies in this area will support the development and dissemination of cost-effective therapies and make more patients accessible. (Thorsten Fischer, Naturopath Osteopathy, 27.02.2010)