To Your Health
July, 2024 (Vol. 18, Issue 07) |
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Walking for Back Pain
By Editorial Staff
Avoidance behaviors are widely associated with low back pain; after all, when you're in pain, all you want to do is minimize the pain, and the thought of movement often raises the fear of the pain getting worse. The problem is that movement is an important aspect of back pain relief.
It starts with avoiding bed rest, and continues with a visit to your chiropractor for appropriate evaluation and treatment. Between visits, your chiropractor may recommend walking as part of the treatment plan. That's because walking – movement – can help; and research proves it.
If you suffer from low back pain that recurs (comes back periodically), know that consistent walking reduces the risk of recurrence. In fact, you could go twice as long without pain compared to not walking. Researchers showed this in a study that randomly assigned 700+ adults to a walking program or a non-walking control group after they recovered from a low back pain episode. Members of the walking group experienced an average of 208 pain-free days before recurrence, compared to only 112 days in the control group.
With health care costs skyrocketing (along with just about everything else these days), take comfort in the fact that the completely free activity of walking can significantly reduce the risk that your low back pain will recur (researchers tracked patients for 1-3 years following their initial episode of pain). If you're experiencing low back pain, ask your doctor about if, when and how you should include walking in your rehabilitation plan.
