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How to beat back pain: take a stroll five times a week
Regular walking can have a ‘profound impact’ on a condition that affects as many as 60 per cent of people at some point
June 20 2024, The Times
Walking for 30 minutes five days a week could help to fend off back pain, according to new research.
A trial has found that people with lower back pain who were asked to take regular strolls remained pain-free for nearly twice as long as a control group who did not follow the same schedule. Their quality of life improved while the amount of time they took off work almost halved.
The researchers said that their findings, published in The Lancet, showed that walking could have a “profound impact” on a condition that affects as many as six in ten people at some time in their lives.
The study, run by Macquarie University in Sydney, involved 701 patients seen at private clinics who had recently experienced an episode of lower back pain.
Those involved were split, at random, into two groups. Members of the first group were asked to take regular walks. They also saw or had video consultations with physiotherapists, who advised them on how to increase exercise, and were asked to fill out diaries to record their strolls and were given pedometers to count their steps. The second group, which acted as a control, did not get any advice or instructions to walk.
On average, it was 208 days before the walkers reported a repeat of their back pain, compared with 112 days for the control group.
Professor Mark Hancock of Macquarie University, senior author of the study, said: “We don’t know exactly why walking is so good for preventing back pain, but it is likely to include the combination of the gentle oscillatory movements, loading and strengthening the spinal structures and muscles, relaxation and stress relief, and release of feelgood endorphins.
“And of course, we also know that walking comes with many other health benefits, including cardiovascular health, bone density, healthy weight, and improved mental health.”
About 800 million people around the world have back pain, and seven in ten who recover from an episode have flare-ups within a year. The NHS website advises sufferers to stay active and to avoid long periods of inactivity.
Dr Natasha Pocovi of Macquarie University, lead author of the study, said: “It [walking] not only improved people’s quality of life, but it reduced their need both to seek healthcare support and the amount of time taken off work by approximately half.
“The exercise-based interventions to prevent back pain that have been explored previously are typically group-based and need close clinical supervision and expensive equipment, so they are much less accessible to the majority of patients.
“Our study has shown that this effective and accessible means of exercise has the potential to be successfully implemented at a much larger scale than other forms of exercise.”
Regular walking can have a ‘profound impact’ on a condition that affects as many as 60 per cent of people at some point
June 20 2024, The Times
Walking for 30 minutes five days a week could help to fend off back pain, according to new research.
A trial has found that people with lower back pain who were asked to take regular strolls remained pain-free for nearly twice as long as a control group who did not follow the same schedule. Their quality of life improved while the amount of time they took off work almost halved.
The researchers said that their findings, published in The Lancet, showed that walking could have a “profound impact” on a condition that affects as many as six in ten people at some time in their lives.
The study, run by Macquarie University in Sydney, involved 701 patients seen at private clinics who had recently experienced an episode of lower back pain.
Those involved were split, at random, into two groups. Members of the first group were asked to take regular walks. They also saw or had video consultations with physiotherapists, who advised them on how to increase exercise, and were asked to fill out diaries to record their strolls and were given pedometers to count their steps. The second group, which acted as a control, did not get any advice or instructions to walk.
On average, it was 208 days before the walkers reported a repeat of their back pain, compared with 112 days for the control group.
Professor Mark Hancock of Macquarie University, senior author of the study, said: “We don’t know exactly why walking is so good for preventing back pain, but it is likely to include the combination of the gentle oscillatory movements, loading and strengthening the spinal structures and muscles, relaxation and stress relief, and release of feelgood endorphins.
“And of course, we also know that walking comes with many other health benefits, including cardiovascular health, bone density, healthy weight, and improved mental health.”
About 800 million people around the world have back pain, and seven in ten who recover from an episode have flare-ups within a year. The NHS website advises sufferers to stay active and to avoid long periods of inactivity.
Dr Natasha Pocovi of Macquarie University, lead author of the study, said: “It [walking] not only improved people’s quality of life, but it reduced their need both to seek healthcare support and the amount of time taken off work by approximately half.
“The exercise-based interventions to prevent back pain that have been explored previously are typically group-based and need close clinical supervision and expensive equipment, so they are much less accessible to the majority of patients.
“Our study has shown that this effective and accessible means of exercise has the potential to be successfully implemented at a much larger scale than other forms of exercise.”
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