High load lifting exercise and low load motor control exercises as interventions for patients with mechanical low back pain: A randomized controlled trial with 24-month follow-up
One article on PainSci cites Michaelson 2016: The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain
PainSci notes on Michaelson 2016:
This study compared two therapeutic exercise strategies for back pain: high load lifting versus low load motor control exercises. Each group of 35 subjects did a dozen sessions over eight weeks. Although 50-80% of subjects reported reduced pain, there was no difference between the groups.
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of a high load lifting exercise with low load motor control exercises on pain intensity, disability and health-related quality of life for patients with mechanical low back pain.
DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial.
SUBJECTS: Patients with mechanical low back pain as their dominating pain mechanism.
METHODS: The intervention programme consisted of a high load lifting exercise, while the control group received low load motor control exercises over 8 weeks (12 sessions) with pain education included in both intervention arms. The primary outcome was pain intensity and disability, and the secondary outcome was health-related quality of life.
RESULTS: Each intervention arm included 35 participants, analysed following 2-, 12- and 24-month follow-up. There was no significant difference between the high load lifting and low load motor control interventions for the primary or secondary outcome measures. Between 50% and 80% of participants reported a decrease in perceived pain intensity and disability for both short- and long-term follow-up.
CONCLUSION: No difference was observed between the high low load lifting and low load motor control interventions. Both interventions included retraining of movement patterns and pain education, which might explain the positive results over time.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
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