A recent Cochrane Review suggests that a strategy to help reduce back pain could be to perform exercises targeted to the muscles that support and control the spine.

The study, published recently in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, gathered together data from 29 randomized trials to investigate the impact of using motor control exercises, other exercises, or no exercise to treat lower back pain.

These studies included a total 2,431 participants, both men and women, aged 22 to 55 years old.

The authors found that people who used motor control exercises experienced improvements, especially in pain and disability compared with minimal intervention. When compared with other types of exercise at intervals between 3 and 12 months, motor control exercise provided similar results for pain and disability, explains a media release from Wiley.

Lead author, Physiotherapist Bruno Saragiotto, from The George Institute, University of Sydney, Australia, says in the release that, “Targeting the strength and coordination of muscles that support the spine through motor control exercise offers an alternative approach to treating lower back pain. We can be confident that they are as effective as other types of exercise, so the choice of exercise should take into account factors such as patient or therapist preferences, cost and availability.”

[Source(s): Wiley, Science Daily]