EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE
EXERCISE AS A
TREATMENT FOR
LOWER BACK PAIN
Low back pain gets most of us at some point, so, asks Dr Mark
McKean PhD, how do various forms of physical activity stack
up in terms of exercise therapy?
on-specific low back
pain can result from a
range of injuries and
conditions, and can include
symptoms such as pain,
tingling,
numbness
and
weakness
in
the
legs.
Commonly these issues relate to
narrowing of the spinal canal,
degeneration of the spine by wear
and tear on joints, pressure on the
nerve where it leaves the spine, disc
degeneration, osteoporosis and some
genetic conditions. In a 2014-2015 survey,
16% of Australians reported back problems,
and nearly one million people reported some
level of limitation in various activities as a
result of this back pain. The Medical Journal
of Australia suggests that up to 80% of
Australians will experience back pain at
some point in their lives and 10% will
experience significant disability as a result.
With these statistics, it’s almost
guaranteed that most exercise professionals
will deal with clients that have suffered low
back pain at some point. The varied nature
of low back pain and severity of symptoms
means that when managing these clients it
is often a matter of what they can do rather
than what they can’t. Exercise has been
promoted as a ‘cure’ but the reality is that
the types of exercise, training volume and
loads, as well as frequency of exercise,
is not well known or even available to the
fitness professional. Certainly, if you have a
client with low back pain you should have
their medical professional confirm that the
client can exercise and that there are no
obvious or medical reasons that should
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