Aerobic Fitness and Chronic Low Back Pain
Millions of people suffer from chronic low back. Many of them tend to shy away from doing aerobic exercises because they fear that their back is going to hurt more or that the exercises will be too difficult. The good news is that there is research supporting the idea that aerobic fitness helps to alleviate some of the low back pain. Plus, a new study points to the fact that those who have chronic low back pain tend to compare with healthy individuals in aerobic fitness assessments.
International Journal of Rehabilitation Research,
Those who work with chronic low back pain patients may want to help advance their aerobic fitness levels. According to the new study doing an aerobic fitness assessment in patients with chronic low back pain may be helpful to clinicians who are helping patients to progress in that area (1).
For the pilot study they conducted, researchers recruited 10 people with low back pain and 10 people without it. They had the participants do different aerobic fitness tests on a treadmill, so they could measure their aerobic fitness level.
The data collected for the aerobic fitness test
- Their oxygen consumption
- Pain intensity
- Rating of perceived exertion
- Heart rate
- Blood lactate concentration
- Respiratory quotient.
What the researchers found was that both groups had similar results when it came to their heart rate, but the group that had chronic low back pain had a higher body mass index (BMI) when compared to the healthy group. The only area where they found a significant difference was for the respiratory quotient. The important thing that was discovered from this study was that those who have chronic low back pain were able to do and tolerate an aerobic fitness test and that there were no significant differences between the two groups of people.
Research outcomes on the efficacy of aerobic exercise for the treatment of chronic low back pain was shared in the May 2015 issue of the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (2). Researchers had conducted a meta-analysis of studies to investigate the efficacy of aerobic exercise for treating patients who have chronic low back pain. They concluded that there is reliable evidence that aerobic exercise can help to ease chronic pain, as well as help to improve the physical and psychological functioning of such patients.
Knowing that engaging in aerobic activity could help those with chronic low back pain and getting them to do it are two different things. It’s important that people know the benefits and that physical activity be a part of their pain treatment plan.
Sources:
International Journal of Rehabilitation Research. Assessment of aerobic fitness in individuals with and without nonspecific chronic low back pain: a pilot study. October 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33136618/
American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Efficacy of aerobic exercise for treatment of chronic low back pain: a meta-analysis. May 2015. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25299528/
