By The majority of households in the country have a pet. People love their furry family members for a variety of reasons. What they may not be aware of are the perceived health benefits that come from having one in the home. For the millions of people who suffer from chronic pain, they may especially want to give some serious consideration to adding a dog to their household, if they don’t already have one. New research adds to what we already know about the benefits of having a dog in the home.
In the April 2019 issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Researchers share their findings from a study they conducted to see if having a dog in the home has benefits for those with chronic low back pain (1). To conduct the study, researchers mailed out surveys to 210 patients who suffer from chronic low back pain.
The surveys that were sent out aimed to measure quality of life, pain, physical activity, emotional health, social ties, and dog ownership. Out of all the surveys they mailed out, 56 of them were completed and returned. Of those, 36 were from people who do not own a dog, while 20 of them were from dog owners.
What the survey results show is that the dog owners reported fewer depression and anxiety symptoms, and they had more social ties, when compared with the non-dog owners. In conclusion having a dog may be associated with an improved sense of well-being for people who have chronic low back pain.
The National Institutes of Health supports this idea (2). They report that interacting with pets decreases cortisol, lowers blood pressure, can reduce feelings of loneliness, can improve your mood, and also can help you feel more social support. To help reduce the stress and anxiety some nursing homes and hospitals have allowed pets.
The idea that dogs may help reduce chronic pain symptoms has been around for years.
In the January 2012 issue of the journal Pain Medicine
Researchers shared the findings of a study that focused on having a therapy dog visit patients in an outpatient pain clinic (3). They concluded that the therapy dog visits provided significant reduction in pain and also emotional stress in chronic pain patients. Having a dog has long been known to put a smile on your face, but the research is also pointing to the fact that it can also reduce chronic pain, too.
Sources:
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Evaluating the Relationship between Well-Being and Living with a Dog for People with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Feasibility Study. April. 2019. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31027281
- National Institutes of Health. The Power of Pets. https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2018/02/power-pets.
- Pain Medicine. Animal-assisted therapy at an outpatient pain management clinic. January 2012. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22233395
