Exercise therapy for chronic low back pain.

Authors: Jill A Hayden, Jenna Ellis, Rachel Ogilvie, Antti Malmivaara, Maurits W van TulderJournal: The Cochrane database of systematic reviewsPublished: November 24, 2021DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009790.pub2

Q1 JournalSJR: 4.8h-index: 291SCImago

Strong EvidenceSystematic Review

Chronic Lower Back Pain

In Plain Language: lower back pain, explained

This systematic review examined research on exercise therapy for people with chronic low back pain. The researchers found that exercise is effective for reducing pain and improving function in people with chronic low back pain, though the effects are modest.

Key Findings: what this systematic review found about lower back pain

✓Exercise therapy is effective for reducing pain in people with chronic low back pain.
✓Exercise therapy improves function in people with chronic low back pain.
✓The effects of exercise therapy for chronic low back pain are modest in magnitude.

What This Means for You

Exercise therapy has strong evidence supporting its use for chronic low back pain, though it should be considered as part of a comprehensive treatment approach rather than a standalone solution.

What This Means for Practitioners

While this review focuses on exercise rather than reflexology, it underscores the importance of referring clients with chronic low back pain to appropriate exercise interventions and understanding how reflexology might complement rather than replace evidence-based therapies.

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Lower back pain: common questions

What does this study say about lower back pain?

Exercise therapy has strong evidence supporting its use for chronic low back pain, though it should be considered as part of a comprehensive treatment approach rather than a standalone solution.

What did this study find?

Exercise therapy is effective for reducing pain in people with chronic low back pain. Exercise therapy improves function in people with chronic low back pain. The effects of exercise therapy for chronic low back pain are modest in magnitude.

How strong is this evidence?

This is a systematic review and we rate its evidence strong. It was published in The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, a Q1 journal. This study is indexed here for context; it did not test reflexology itself.