Just walking regularly can help prevent lower back pain.

Gần 70% số người hồi phục sau cơn đau thắt lưng sẽ tái phát trong vòng một năm - Ảnh: Getty — Nearly 70% of people who recover from low back pain will have a recurrence within a year - Photo: Getty

Unfortunately, experts say, nearly 70 percent of people who recover from low back pain will have it again within a year.

Walking has positive effects on low back pain

There's an easy, free way to prevent lower back pain, at least for a while, according to a new randomized clinical trial.

People in the study who walked regularly after experiencing at least one episode of low back pain remained pain-free for nearly twice as long as those who did not walk.

"The intervention group had less activity-limiting pain than the control group, and a longer median time before relapse, with a median time of 208 days compared with 112 days," said lead author Mark Hancock, professor of physiotherapy at Macquarie University in Sydney.

“Walking is a simple, widely accessible and low-cost exercise that most people can participate in, regardless of geographic location, age or socioeconomic status,” Hancock said in a statement.

The study, published in The Lancet , followed 701 Australian adults, mostly women in their 50s, who had recently recovered from a bout of low back pain that left them unable to perform daily activities.

Each person was randomly assigned to a control group with no intervention or an individualized walking and education program.

Those in the intervention group were asked to walk for up to 30 minutes five times a week for six months at a pace adjusted according to age, physical ability and personal preference. Slow jogging was also allowed.

“After three months, most participants were walking three to five days a week, for an average total of 130 minutes,” Hancock told CNN via email.

“We included three standard sessions with a physical therapist and three brief phone conversations,” he said in an email. In the few previous studies of exercise programs for back pain prevention, the intervention consisted of about 20 group classes.

“We also discuss simple strategies to reduce the risk of low back pain recurrence and teach how to self-manage any minor recurrences. Education is included in the same sessions as the walking prescription,” he adds.

How does walking benefit the body?

What makes walking so good for back pain relief? First, exercise is good for every part of the body.

“First, people sit less, and sitting is not the best posture for the back,” says A. Lynn Millar, a retired physical therapist and former professor at Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Second, walking improves general circulation, and it improves blood flow to the back muscles that are actively supporting the individual during movement, Millar says. Joint movement also helps circulate fluid in the joints, so the joints in the spine can benefit from that movement.

Experts say walking improves metabolism and the number of calories burned. A lower weight can take the load off your back and legs, ensuring better spinal health. Brisk walking also improves the strength of the core muscles around your spine and legs, all of which can improve posture and provide better support for your spine.

Walking also increases muscle endurance, ensuring that muscles are less susceptible to fatigue and injury. Weight-bearing exercises such as walking increase bone density, protecting against injury, and stimulate the release of endorphins - the body's natural feel-good hormones that help reduce pain and stress.

If walking still causes too much back pain, it may be necessary to switch to activities like cycling or swimming, says Millar. Take a day or two off from walking and do some back exercises and stretches.

Cost-effective intervention

In addition to giving participants longer pain-free periods, the walking program also halved the amount of time off work and medical visits, said lead study author Natasha Pocovi, a postdoctoral fellow at Macquarie.

“Previously examined exercise-based interventions for back pain prevention are typically group-based and require close clinical supervision and expensive equipment, making them difficult to access for the majority of patients,” Pocovi said.