Elastic resistance hip strengthening exercise program improves low back pain

tiandongsheng

Low back pain has been said to occur in 80% of the population at one time or another. Recently, hip abductor weakness has been implicated as a factor in chronic low back pain. Gluteus medius weakness is thought to result from poor lateral hip stabilization during single-leg stance, leading to abnormal loading of the lumbar spine.As part of a larger study on hip abductor weakness in patients with non-specific low back pain, Canadian researchers had 10 patients with low back pain perform a 3-week home-based hip abductor strengthening program with an elastic band. The patients used a resistance level of 10-15RM (the maximum resistance that allows only 10 to 15 repetitions). The patients performed hip abduction in the frontal plane and hip abduction with the leg in 45 degrees of extension. They did not increase their resistance levels over the 3 weeks. They were tested for isometric hip abductor strength prior to the study and compared to 10 control subjects without low back pain. Isometric hip strength was normalized to body weight.
The researchers found that patients with low back pain were significantly weaker (31%) than those without low back pain before the study. After the 3-week exercise intervention, the subjects with low back pain significantly improved in hip abductor strength (12%) and had a 48% reduction in low back pain.
While these results are promising, it should be noted that this study had several limitations. Only 10 subjects with non-specific back pain were included in the exercise group. Non-specific back pain, as the name implies, is not related to one specific mechanism; therefore, the impairments among the individuals may have varied widely. There was no true control group for patients with low back pain, so a ‘placebo’ effect cannot be ruled out.
In conclusion, patients with non-specific low back pain who have hip abductor weakness may benefit from performing as little as 3 weeks of Thera-Band resisted hip abduction strengthening exercises to significantly reduce their low back pain.



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