Meditation and CBT ease lower back pain, according to new study
In a recent study both meditation and CBT as treatments for lower back pain were shown to be effective in alleviating back pain in a variety of age groups.
The research team, led by Dr Daniel Cherkin at Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, US, compared different approached to treating chronic lower back pain. For the study they enrolled 342 people, aged between 20 – 70 years old, who had back pain for more than three months that couldn’t be attributed to a specific cause.
Patients were then randomly assigned one of three treatment groups: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), or usual care.
CBT is a form of psychotherapy that trains people to modify specific thoughts and behaviours and has previously been shown to be effective in alleviating back pain for a number of age groups. In this study, CBT group participants focused on changing dysfunctional thoughts, setting and working toward behavioral goals, relaxation skills, and pain-coping strategies.
MBSR focuses on increasing awareness and acceptance of moment-to-moment experiences without trying to change them. MBSR group members engaged in a number of mindfulness practices including yoga and both sitting and walking meditation.
The CBT and MBSR groups attended weekly 2-hour sessions for 8 weeks. They received workbooks and audio CDs for home practice. The usual care group could seek whatever treatment, if any, they wanted. The research was supported by NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).
At 6 months, functional improvement—measured with an established questionnaire—was higher for 61% of those in the MBSR group and 58% of those in CBT group, compared to 44% of those in the usual care group. The percentage of those with improvement in self-reported back pain was also greater with MBSR (44%) and CBT (45%) than usual care (27%). Both treatments continued to show moderate benefits after 1 year.
“The research suggests that training the brain to respond differently to pain signals may be more effective—and last longer—than traditional physical therapy and medication,” Cherkin says.
“The results from this research affirm that non-drug/non-opioid therapies, such as meditation, can help manage chronic low-back pain. Physicians and their patients can use this information to inform treatment decisions,” says NCCIH Director Dr. Josephine Briggs.
Further research will be needed to determine whether the treatment benefits extend beyond a year, to identify mechanisms that underlie their effectiveness, and to assess their cost effectiveness.
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