Back pain is a common experience that can be chronic and lead to challenges in living everyday life. Researchers are interested in finding the most successful strategies to help people who experience back pain. A recent study indicated that increasing daily activity could help keep back pain from getting worse, compared to continuing a sedentary lifestyle. The results show that as little as 40 minutes of less sedentary time could improve back pain. In the United States, back pain is a widespread problem. Someone’s risk for back pain can increase if they are overweight, older, or have stress-related conditions. Experts want to understand what lifestyle interventions could be most effective for people with back pain.
A study published in BMJ Open explored how reducing sedentary behavior for simply an hour a day could help with back pain. Over six months, participants who, on average, increased their moderate to vigorous activity by 20 minutes a day and decreased their sedentary behavior by 40 minutes a day saw less increase in back pain than the control group who continued their sedentary behavior. The results highlight how simple changes in daily activities could likely help people who experience back pain. Researchers of the current study wanted to understand more about the relationship between back pain, reducing sedentary behavior, insulin sensitivity, disability, and paraspinal muscle fat fraction. Fat in the paraspinal muscles and insulin resistance are both related to back pain.
The study was a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial involving 64 adults with obesity or overweight, sedentary behavior, and metabolic syndrome. Participants were divided into a control and intervention group, with the intervention group trying to decrease sedentary behavior by an hour each day. The control group continued with their normal lifestyle. On average, participants in the intervention group increased moderate to vigorous physical activity by 20 minutes a day and decreased their sedentary behavior by 40 minutes a day. The researchers conducted PET and MRI scans on a subsample of participants to examine paraspinal muscle glucose uptake and fat fraction.
Overall, the intervention group did not see changes in back pain, while the control group saw a statistically significant increase in back pain. The researchers also found an association between increased daily steps and better paraspinal muscle glucose uptake. Both groups saw an increase in pain-related disability, but there wasn’t a significant difference in pain-related disability between the two groups. The researchers did not find an association between changes in back pain intensity and changes in paraspinal muscle fat fraction, glucose uptake, physical activity, sedentary behavior, or pain-related disability. The results add to evidence that even simple changes in activity could benefit people who experience back pain.
The results point to how a simple intervention could improve outcomes in clinical practice and individuals’ lives. Back pain remains a challenging problem that doctors and specialists address. All people with back pain should work with doctors to develop individualized treatment plans. The study results add to evidence that increasing activity can be beneficial. However, future research could include more diversity and consider pain history in inclusion criteria. The researchers acknowledge some limitations in the study design, such as the relatively short time frame and self-reported data from participants. Areas for continued research include investigating the effects of reducing sedentary time on individuals with more severe pain and exploring additional activity or exercise interventions for back pain relief.
