"People with back pain, walk for 30 minutes a day"... pain is reduced by half

Walking an average of 130 minutes a week nearly halves the period without pain.

Walking three times a week significantly reduces the risk of recurrence by nearly half in order to alleviate back pain.

 

Approximately 800 million people worldwide suffer from back pain, and among those who experience lumbar pain, 7 out of 10 have a recurrence within a year.

 

According to a study published in the journal The Lancet, walking three times a week to relieve back pain nearly halves the risk of recurrence.

 

Researchers at Macquarie University in Australia tracked over 700 adults who recovered from back pain for up to three years.

 

Half of them received a customized walking program and educational sessions from a physical therapist randomly selected, while the rest were assigned to the control group.

 

The control group did not receive any special treatment, but they could receive treatment if symptoms recurred.

 

The researchers provided the participants with a rough guide to increase their activity to up to 30 minutes, five times a week, over a period of six months.

 

Most participants walked 3 to 5 days a week for an average total of 130 minutes over three months.

 

Research results showed that people who walk five times a week for an average of 30 minutes each day and those who received guidance from physical therapists experienced nearly twice as long without pain compared to those who received no treatment.

 

Professor Mark Hancock of Macquarie University, the lead researcher, stated, "The intervention group experienced fewer episodes of activity-limiting pain compared to the control group, and the average duration until recurrence was longer."

 

The median was 208 days compared to 112 days.

 

He explained that the reason walking is good for preventing back pain is because it involves gentle vibration exercise, load and strengthening of the spinal structure and muscles, relaxation, and stress relief.