• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.346-360
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to evaluate effects of education and stabilization exercise of lumbar neutral zone is range of motion and pain of lumbar spine on the with non-specific low back pain. And the randomly selected each twenty patients out of the forty non-specific low back pain patients were classified as an stabilization exercise group and the other the patients were in a control group. stabilization exercise group in non-specific low back pain patients participated in exercise program of Richardson & Jull (1995) four week from October 1st, 2002 to February 28st, 2003 in Daegu 00 hospital. The conclusion were as follows: 1. After 4 weeks of therapy, Visual analogue scale in stabilization exercise group and control group with non-specific low back pain patients were not significantly decreased(p>.05). 2. Remodified Schober test in range of motion lumbar spine of stabilization exercise group and control group with non-specific low back pain patients were significantly increased(p<.05). 3. Finger-to-Floor test in range of motion whole spine of stabilization exercise group and control group with non-specific low back pain patients were not significantly increased(p>.05). 4. Visual analogue scale, Remodified Schober test and Finger-to-Floor test in pre and post treatment of stabilization exercise group and control group with non-specific low back pain patients were significant different(p<.05). 5. Visual analogue scale, Remodified Schober test and Finger-to-Floor test in stabilization exercise group and control group with non-specific low back pain patients were not significant different(p>.05).

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.268-277
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• 2023

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Pilates breathing exercises on functional disability and lumbar flexibility in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Methods: 30 patients with non-specific low back pain were selected and classified into an experimental group (n=15) and a control group (n=15). Both groups were assessed for functional disability using the Oswestry Disability Index and flexibility of the lumbar spine using the modified-modified Schober test before and after the intervention. The intervention was applied twice a week for four weeks. The experimental group performed Pilates breathing exercises followed by spinal stabilization exercises, while the control group only performed spinal stabilization exercises. Results: Both groups showed significant improvements in functional disability and lumbar flexibility after the intervention. However, when comparing between the two groups, the experimental group showed a more significant effect than the control group. Conclusions: The combination of Pilates breathing exercises and spinal stabilization exercises can be considered an effective approach to improve low back pain and prevent chronic pain in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.37-52
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• 2022

Purpose : The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effects of electrical stimulation on patients with non-specific low back pain. Methods : Domestic databases were gathered from studies that conducted clinical trials associated with electrical stimulation and its impact on pain of non-specific low back patients. A total of 681 studies were identified, with 12 studies satisfying the inclusion data. The studies consisted of patient, intervention, comparison, outcome, and study design (PICO-SD). The search outcomes were items associated with low back pain. Cochrane risk of bias 2 (RoB 2) was used to evaluate the quality of 12 randomized controlled trials. Effect sizes (Hedges's g) in this study were computed as the corrected standard mean difference (SMD). A random-effect model was used to analyze the effect size because of the high heterogeneity among the studies. Egger's regression and 'trim-and-fill' tests were carried out to analyze the publication bias. Cumulative meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis were conducted to analyze the effect according to the sample size and the consistency of the effect size. Results : The following factors had a large overall effect size (Hedges's g=1.28, 95 % CI=.20~2.36) involving electrical stimulation on non-specific low back pain. The subgroup analysis all showed a statistical difference in the types of study design, electrical stimulation, and assessment tool. No statistically significant difference was found in the meta-regression analysis. Publican bias was found in the data. Conclusion : The findings in this study indicate that electrical stimulation interventions have a positive effect on patients with non-specific low back pain. However, due to the low quality of studies and publication bias, the results of our study should be interpreted cautiously.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2019

PURPOSE: This study was to investigate the effects of crocodile breathing exercise on pain, muscle tone, and muscle stiffness of non-specific low back pain patients. METHODS: The subjects were 37 patients with nonspecific low back pain. The patients were divided into two groups. The experimental group (EG) performed crocodile breathing exercise and the control group (CG) performed chest expansion breathing exercise. The intervention was conducted for 10 minutes every day for a total of eight weeks. Pain was measured using a VAS. Muscle tone and stiffness were measured using Myoton PRO. Two points were measured for muscle tone and muscle stiffness. They were measured at 30mm from the spinous process of the L1 and T10 vertebra. RESULTS: Pain, muscle tone and muscle stiffness at the T10 level showed a significant decrease in both EG and CG. Muscle tone and muscle stiffness in the L1 level area decreased significantly in the experimental group but the control group did not show any difference. The only statistically significant difference was observed in the L1 muscle tone between the pre and post intervention values. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that Crocodile breathing is a good method for managing pain, muscle tone, and muscle stiffness in non-specific low back pain patients.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2024

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the thoracic mobility exercise program on pain, proprioception, and static balance ability in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain. Design: Randomized controlled trial design. Methods: Thirty patients with non-specific chronic low back pain participated in this study. The participants were randomized into the thoracic mobility exercise group (n=15) and the lumbar stabilization exercise group (n=15). Both groups received traditional physical therapy for 30 minutes per session. In addition, the thoracic mobility exercise group and the lumbar stabilization exercise group each exercise 3 times a week for 6 weeks. All participants were measured visual analog scale, proprioception test, and static balance ability before and after the intervention. Results: After 6 weeks of interventions, the thoracic mobility exercise group showed greater improvement in visual analog scale, proprioception test, and static balance ability than the LSE group (p<0.05). Further, the thoracic mobility exercise group had significant Enhancements in all measured variables compared to the baselinetest (p<0.05). However, the lumbar stabilization exercise group had significant improvement only visual analog scale, and static balance ability compared to the baselinetest (p<0.05). Conclusions: Our investigation demonstrates that the thoracic mobility exercise is an effective intervention method for improving pain, proprioception, and static balance ability in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2012

Low back pain is a common clinical condition with heterogeneous causes and challenges to manage. High prevalence and numerous assessments result in an enormous socioeconomic burden. Clinician must conduct efficient and stepwise evaluation process to rule out serious spinal pathology, neurologic involvement, and identify risk factors for chronicity. The process can be achieved through the focused history taking and physical examination. Certain factors related to serious spinal pathology include age (>50 years), trauma, unexplained fever, recent urinary or skin infection, unrelenting night or rest pain, unexplained weight loss, osteoporosis, immunosuppression, steroid use, and widespread neurological symptoms. In non-specific low back pain, diagnostic imaging and laboratory studies are often unnecessary and can disturb an appropriate management. For the management of acute low back pain, patient education and medication such as acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and muscle relaxants are recommended. For chronic low back pain, behavior therapy, back exercise, and spinal manipulation are beneficial. The evidence based approach could improve success rate of management, result in prevention of acute low back pain from being chronic intractable pain.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.251-255
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• 2019

Background: Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) including laser acupuncture (LA) has been widely used to treat chronic low back pain (CLBP), but there is no critically appraised evidence of the potential benefits. The purpose of this protocol for a systematic review was to enable the evaluation of the effectiveness of LLLT including LA for non-specific CLBP to identify the potential benefits. Methods: The electronic databases MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase (Ovid), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Korean medical databases (KoreaMed, KMBASE, KISS, NDSL, KISTI, OASIS), the Chinese database (CNKI), and Japanese databases (CiNII, J-STAGE) are recommended. Results: Randomized controlled trials in LLLT including LA should be included in the searches. All data synthesis and subgroup analyses should be conducted using a Review Manager software. The Cochrane risk of bias tool can be used to evaluate methodological quality of the studies. A risk ratio or mean difference with a 95% confidence interval will show the effects of LLLT including LA. Conclusion: The primary outcome would be pain intensity and functional status/disability due to low back pain. The secondary outcome would be a global measurement of recovery or improvement, quality of life and adverse event.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.329-334
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• 2022

Objective: Low back pain (LBP) is a symptom that accounts for a large proportion of musculoskeletal pain. Among them, non-specific LBP (NSLBP) means that the pathological cause is unknown, and belongs to the most common LBP. Studies on the mechanism of muscle control in LBP are insufficient, and quantitative studies are needed. Design: Observational cross-sectional study design Methods: A Thirty participants with NSLBP symptoms were enrolled, and their pressure pain thresholds (PPT) and muscle and fat thickness were measured. Participants measured the paraspinal muscles (PM) of the thoracic and lumbar spine and medial hamstring (semitendinosus) on the dominant and non-dominant sides in the prone position. Results: Among the variables that were significant in the correlation analysis, PM of the thoracic and lumbar spine showed a significant relationship in the PPT ([thoracic spine PM]=1.141+0.912 [lumbar spine PM]). Also, there was a significant relationship between the lumbar spine PM in the PPT and the thoracic spine PM in the muscle thickness ([lumbar spine PM of PPT]=4.057+0.117 [thoracic spine PM of muscle thickness]) Conclusions: Although there was no muscle imbalance according to the dominant and non-dominant side, there is a correlation between the pressure pain threshold and the muscle thickness between the paraspinal muscles of the thoracic spine and the lumbar spine.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.52-61
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• 2023

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of a combined functional intervention program on the pain-related questionnaire, the erector spinae contractile properties, and trunk extensor strength of prime-aged females with non-specific chronic low back pain. Method: 16 (female: 16) prime-aged subjects (age: 60.88 ± 6.09 years, height: 158.16 ± 5.58 cm, weight: 59.05 ± 9.44 kg) participated in this study. Results: Except for Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia all pain-related questionnaires revealed a significant decrease after the intervention program (p<.001). Tensiomyography of the erector spinae revealed a significant post-intervention program increase in the maximum radial displacement (p<.05) and velocity of contraction (p<.05), however, there wasn't a significant post-intervention program change in the contraction time. Additionally, Trunk extensor strength showed a significant increase post-intervention program (p<.001). Conclusion: Our results indicated that the combined functional intervention program positively changed pain-related questionnaires and reduced erector spinae muscle stiffness, increasing the velocity of erector spinae contraction. Additionally, improved the trunk extensor strength.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2018

Background: Sleep disturbance and depression are becoming more recognized as important symptoms among individuals with chronic low back pain. This study evaluated the effect of stabilization exercise on pain-related disability, sleep disturbance and the psychological status of patients with non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP). Methods: A total of 26 patients (M/F = 17/9) with NSCLBP with a mean age of $50.0{\pm}15.5$ took part in this study. Participants were recruited from selected hospitals in Lagos state. Ethical approval was sought and obtained from the health research and ethics committee of Lagos University Teaching Hospital Idi-araba, Lagos, Nigeria. Participants performed stabilization exercise for eight weeks consecutively and were assessed for pain-related disability, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance using the pain-disability index, hospital anxiety and depression scale, and the insomnia severity index at baseline, the 4th week, and the 8th week, postintervention. Results: The participants studied recorded significant reduction in pain-related disability (P = 0.001). There was also improvement in the sleep quality (P = 0.001), depression level (P = 0.001), and anxiety level (P = 0.001), post intervention. Conclusions: This study revealed that stabilization exercise is very useful in the management of sleep disturbance, pain-related disability, depression, and anxiety in NSCLBP patients.