Mind-Body Approaches for Low Back Pain ARE Helpful

If you just put your mind to it…New research reveals that when it comes to low back pain, both mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can lessen back pain and functional limitations.

As indicated in the March 22, 2016 news release, “Daniel C. Cherkin, Ph.D., of Group Health Research Institute, Seattle, and colleagues randomly assigned 342 adults age 20 to 70 years with chronic low back pain to receive MBSR (n = 116), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT; n = 113), or usual care (n = 113). CBT (training to change pain-related thoughts and behaviors) and MBSR (training in mindfulness meditation and yoga) were delivered in 8 weekly 2-hour groups. Usual care included whatever other treatment, if any, the participants received. The average age of the participants was 49 years; the average duration of back pain was 7.3 years.”

“The researchers found that at 26 weeks, the percentage of participants with clinically meaningful improvement on a measure of functional limitations was higher for those who received MBSR (61 percent) and CBT (58 percent) than for usual care (44 percent). The percentage of participants with clinically meaningful improvement in pain bothersomeness at 26 weeks was 44 percent in the MBSR group and 45 percent in the CBT group, vs 27 percent in the usual care group. Findings for MBSR persisted with little change at 52 weeks for both primary outcomes.”

“The effects were moderate in size, which has been typical of evidence-based treatments recommended for chronic low back pain. These benefits are remarkable given that only 51 percent of those randomized to receive MBSR and 57 percent of those randomized to receive CBT attended at least 6 of the 8 sessions, ” the authors write.

Dr. Cherkin told OTW, “Our research group has been interested in back pain for many years because it is such a common and challenging problem for both patients and physicians. We’re constantly looking for new and innovative ways to help our patients. We’ve studied various several physical approaches to back pain and wanted to evaluate treatments that targeted the mind. Our work—and that of others—has suggested to us that pain is very much a mind-body phenomenon, with the mind and body intricately intertwined. So trying these mind-based approaches seemed the next step.”

“The most surprising finding was that the beneficial effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) remained strong even after 52 weeks.”

“There are a number of non-surgical treatments that may be helpful for non-specific back pain. Existing high quality clinical guidelines have recommended the acupuncture, massage, yoga, cognitive and behavioral therapy for persons with persistent back pain. Our study suggests that mindfulness meditation can be added to that list of effective treatment options.”