In this article, we will discuss the frequency of treatment for chronic back pain
Not a few people suffer from chronic back pain, and there are those who strive to alleviate the pain caused by back pain in some way.
We judo therapists also have to deal with people who suffer from chronic low back pain, but the frequency of intervention is patient-dependent, and there is no clear indicator.
As a hint to these questions, I would like to introduce a study that investigates the frequency of physical therapy interventions for chronic low back pain.
The study
The study will be aimed at assessing the effectiveness of physical therapy modalities for pain, depression, and functional impairment in patients with chronic mechanical low back pain five days a week versus twice a week, three days apart.
A total of 60 patients with chronic low back pain were included in the study and were divided into two groups and tested.
Group 1 (n = 30) received physical therapy five days a week for a total of 15 sessions, while Group 2 (n = 30) received physical therapy twice a week, three days apart.
All patients received
Hot packs for 20 minutes
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for 20 minutes.
Ultrasound therapy (US) for 10 minutes.
All patients received the following interventions.
In addition, all patients received exercise training and were instructed to do it twice a day for up to four weeks after the completion of the physical therapy sessions.
The severity of low back pain was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), the severity of depression was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and functional impairment was assessed using the ODI.
All patients were assessed before and after physical therapy and at 4 weeks, and results were compared between groups.At the time of randomization, there were no statistically significant differences in age, gender, body mass index, occupation, VAS, BDI, or ODI scores.
In the within-group analysis, all parameters showed significant improvement at 4 weeks after physical therapy compared to pre-treatment values and compared to post-treatment values.
Differences in change were used for between-group analysis, with the difference in change supporting improvement being significantly higher in Group 2 than in Group 1.There was no significant difference between the post-treatment values and the values at 4 weeks.
Discussion
The results showed that the twice-weekly pace in Group 2 was significant for improvement.
As for pain, both groups seemed to be in good shape with a decreasing trend, but the intermittent intervention was better for psychological and functional aspects.
Given that other studies have shown similar results, the following are some thoughts on this phenomenon.Some physical therapy interventions are exogenous stresses in terms of physical and mental health, and depending on the frequency of stress, the speed at which the body recovers, etc., may have led to the aforementioned results. It is said that this is due to the speed at which the body recovers depending on the frequency of stress.
The homeostasis of the human body is such that when stress is applied from outside, the body reacts to the stress by activating itself and trying to maintain homeostasis.
Hormones and other factors in the body are involved in this phenomenon, and the frequency of intervention is related to the adjustment of these hormones, and the more desirable result was the intermittent frequency.
Altınbilek T, Murat S. A comparison of application frequency of physical therapy modalities in patients with chronic mechanical low back pain. Turk J Phys Med Rehabil. 2020;66(2):201-209. published 2020 May 18. doi:10.5606/tftrd.2020.4192
Conclusion
For chronic low back pain, both 5 days a week and 2 days a week show improvement, but it is possible that greater improvement can be expected with intervention 2 days a week.
If you are wondering about the frequency of use, except for those who are strongly convinced that they have to, consider using two days a week.
I think this is highly desirable, as it will reduce your expenses.
