The Clinical Effects Of Intensive, Specific Exercise On Chronic Low Back Pain: A Controlled Study Of 895 Consecutive Patients With 1-Year Follow Up
Abstract:
Eight hundred ninety-five consecutive chronic low back pain patients were evaluated. Six hundred twenty-seven completed the program. One hundred sixty-one began but dropped out, and 107 were recommended for treatment but did not undergo treatment for various reasons. Average duration of symptoms prior to evaluation was 26 months. Forty-seven percent of patients were workers’ compensation patients. The primary treatments was intensive, specific exercise using firm pelvic stabilization to isolate and rehabilitate the lumbar musculature. Patients were encouraged to work hard to achieve specific goals. Seventy-six percent of patients completing the program had excellent or good results. At 1-year follow up 94% of patients with good or excellent results reported maintaining their improvement. Results in the control group were significantly poorer in all areas surveyed except employment.
Spine Strong Comments:
Since 1998, Dr. Dan Bruno, the owner and developer of Spine Strong, has been performing “Intensive Spine Strengthening” for patients with chronic and recurring lower back pain. Intensive spine strengthening, as used in the Spine Strong Program, was created by leading medical experts due to the great deficiency in effective treatment methods for low back pain. Decades of scientific research and clinical study has shown that most back problems are the result of weak back muscles, specifically the lumbar spinal multifidus muscles. While most treatments methods use a variety of methods to try and “mask the pain”, intensive spine strengthening addresses and corrects the underlying problem…spinal muscle weakness.
The 90′s were an important decade for research looking into both the technique and effectiveness of intensive spine strengthening. In 1995, a research study came out entitled “The Clinical Effects Of Intensive, Specific Exercise On Chronic Back Pain: A Controlled Study of 895 Consecutive Patients With 1-year Follow Up”. In this study a large group of chronic low back pain patients were put through a rehabilitation program with a strong emphasis on progressive, intensive lumbar spine strengthening with firm pelvic stabilization. Nearly all participants had tried and failed multiple treatment modalities including supervised exercise programs. A brief overview is below:
PATIENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAM:
- Duration of symptoms ranged from 3 months to 30 years
- Symptoms included lower back pain as well as leg pain
- Patients had tried an average of 6 different treatments
- 14% had previous back surgery
- 89% failed a supervised exercise program
- 47% tried and failed chiropractic
OVERALL RESULTS:
- Overall 76% had an excellent or good response to treatment
- Of these, 94% maintained their improvement 13 months later
- Of those with back pain, 79% had a substantial decrease or a decrease in back pain
- Of those with leg pain, 79% had a substantial decrease or a decrease in leg pain
- 93% had an improvement in their ability to perform the activities of daily living
This study is one of many showing the advantages of an “active” approach for chronic/recurring lower back pain versus the traditional “passive” approach that provides little more than a Band Aid effect.