Effects of Exercise on Chronic Back Pain

Exercise and chronic Back pain
THE EVIDENCE SUMMARY
Present document summarised current evidence on Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on
Chronic back pain with recommendations for future research.
Why change is needed?
Back pain can be considered as chronic pain when it lasts for more than 3 months (Jones et.al.,
(2020). It can have a debilitating effect on lives of patient and it can reduce their ability to carry
out daily lives activity. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017–18 has observed that about 4
Million of Australians are been suffering from chronic back pain (Booth et.al, 2017). It has also
been observed that about 70-80% of people will suffer from CLBP (Chronic low back pain) at
some point of time in their lives. Evidence shows that in year 2017-2018 there were about
181000 patients admitted to hospitals because of chronic back pain (Jones et.al., (2020). There
are various reasons why people are suffering from back pain like life style changes, injuries,
accidents, suffering from disease (Geneen et.al, 2017). This problem is least common up to the
age of 24 (Jones et.al., (2020). It has also been analysed that patients suffering from acute back
pain, 40% of them can be diagnosed with chronic back pain (Jones et.al., (2020). CBP (Chronic
back pain) is usually linked with ageing but can be faced by people because of injury. It has
observed that there is some common cause of CBP. One of the most common reasons is arthritis
of spine (Jones et.al., (2020). In this, cartilage presented inside spine reduces down. This can
result into development of CBP and can reduce health outcome of patients. It also affects their
well-being and quality of life. It has also been analysed that back pain is separated on two
aspects specific and nonspecific (Geneen et.al, 2017). Specific CBP means that it is been
developed because of specific reason. NSCBP (non-specific low back pain) means that there is
no reason related to why this back pain is developed. Exercise and PA (physical activity)
including aerobic exercise, muscular strength and stabilisation exercises are effective strategy for
treating patients with chronic back pain(Geneen et.al, 2017)..
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The evidence
Present review is being based on the evidence which was being identified during search in
PubMed.
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Settings: The study related to nonspecific lower back pain was being conducted in Australia on
participants who were suffering from chronic back pain. The study has provided who were
suffering from chronic back pain. The report has provided that participants with current CBP
have decreased lumbar flexion when being compared to those who do not have CBP (Ko et.al,
(2018). From the included study, four were RCT, one was systematic review and one was
literature review. Owen et.al (2020); Banerjee & Walter (2019); Lee & Kang, (2016);Saragiotto
et.al (2016); Mesner et.al (2016); Jones et.al. (2020).
Participants: Patients suffering from nonspecific chronic back pain was taken in the above
study which is total number of 2507.
Intervention:
Yes, all the studies explore the effectiveness of physical exercise. Out of six studies, 2
studies have mentioned that there is less evidence on impact of physical activity on chronic back
pain (Banerjee & Walter, 2019); (Saragiotto et.al, 2016). Similarly, one study has evaluated the
effect of 6 months exercise on the intervertebral disc which was found to be unbeneficial to help
in non-specific chronic lower back pain (Owen et.al, 2020). One study has mentioned that
increased frequency of physical activity and continuous implementation of intervention can be
beneficial to the management of non-specific low back pain (Mesner et.al, 2016). The result
shows that the combined exercise program was more effective for reducing pain levels than the
strength exercise (Lee & Kang, (2016).
The result of the study supports exercise therapy decreases the symptoms of chronic
NSLBP when combined with pain education, whereas on of the study found no difference
between pain educations and therapeutic exercise. (Jones et.al (2020).
A 3-month intervention programme was used for patients suffering from CBP by health care
professionals. It was being used in order to investigate the effect of therapeutic exercise on
flexibility of muscle and spine (Geneen et.al, 2017).. Patients were being provided with 7
exercises for various parts. It was analysed that aerobics was more effective on patients and it
has showed positive results by the author. The health outcome of patients was being improved
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by engaging in doing regular PA. It has also been analysed that enhancing flexibility related to
lumbar spine also enhances health outcome of patient (Geneen et.al, 2017).
It has been analysed from the study that physical exercise such as aerobics can be
beneficial for those who are been going through Chronic back pain. This is because it increases
flow of blood and nutrients to tissues that are soft. It assists in enhancing process of healing and
also decreases down the stiffness which gives rise to pain in back (Lee & Kang, (2016). It has
also been analysed that about 30 to 40 minutes of exercise can increase the production of
endorphins in body(Lee & Kang, (2016). It is a chemical in brain which being released can act as
opiate receptor in controlling pain. This works in same way, just like pain relief medication like
Morphine and codeine Lee & Kang, (2016). This form of exercise can be useful for those
patients who rely on medications in order to get relieve from the pain. Physical activity like
aerobics can also provide various other benefits to patients suffering from CBP (Banerjee &
Walter (2019)
By doing exercise their functional status can be enhanced. It can also lower down the fear
of movement and enhances fitness level of patients. This can be useful in enhancing health
outcome of patients and also their quality of life can be enhanced by physical exercise
(Coulombe et.al., (2017). It has also been analysed that this is a global problem which is
reducing down health of so many people (Adams, Eschman & Ge, (2017). It has been identified
from the results that physical exercises are better than acupressure (Saragiotto et.al., (2016). In
order to enhance health outcome, it is being recommended for patient to be engaged in regular
physical exercise (Godley & Smith, (2020). There have been so many different exercises that is
being suggested for treating patients suffering from chronic back pain (Jones et.al (2020). It
includes low to moderate and high intensity aerobic exercise (Murphy et.al., (2019). It has also
been analysed that understanding cause of chronic back pain is really important so that better
interventions can be taken to enhance health outcome of patients (Vanti et.al., (2019). These
physical activities have provided promising findings. PA and aerobics are assisting patients with
CBP in reducing down the back pain and also improving their health outcome. Exercise
including aerobics, strengthening muscles or exercise related to stabilisation and/or increasing
flexibility through training or intervention programmes(Lee & Kang, (2016).
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