FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
FEB. 10, 2009
STUDY SHOWS MOTOR CONTROL EXERCISES EFFECTIVE
TO REDUCE PERSISTENT LOW BACK PAIN
Low back
pain is an international health problem with significant economic and social
costs. In America alone, the treatment cost of
back pain is estimated to be $86 billion per year or 9% of the country’s total
health expenditure.
“The search
for new ways to manage this old problem is critical in order to improve the
health and quality of life of individuals who struggle with this condition,”
said Mark Huslig, executive director of St. John’s outpatient physical therapy.
Huslig and
his colleagues are using motor control exercises in conjunction with other forms
of therapy, to help people with low back pain to both restore function and
hopefully get back into the workforce quickly. This approach is proven to
significantly reduce pain and disability in patients with persistent low back
pain, according to a new systematic review published in the January issue of
Physical Therapy (PTJ), the scientific journal of the American Physical
Therapy Association (APTA).
Motor
control exercise, also known as specific stabilization exercise, is a form of
exercise for back pain that has gained the attention of researchers and health
practitioners over the past decade. The exercise focuses on regaining control of
the trunk muscles which support and control the spine. Previous studies of
patients with low back pain have shown they are unable to properly control these
muscles. Through motor control exercise, patients are taught how to isolate and
“switch on” these muscles and then incorporate these movements into their normal
activities.
In
addition to feeling less pain, patients performing these types of exercises are
able to be more physically active and experience positive effects over a longer
period of time than those who receive other treatments, according to
researchers.
Huslig said St.
John’s began prescribing motor control exercises to physical therapy patients in
2005 and currently use the exercises in conjunction with St. John’s Spine Center
and as a component of post-operative follow-up for lumbar surgery. The exercises
are also prescribed for high-level injured workers seeking help from St. John’s occupational
medicine services.
# # #