A groundbreaking study reveals that walking nearly doubles the pain-free time for those recovering from low back pain, compared to doing nothing.
Over 700 participants were followed for up to three years, with the walking group also receiving guided education sessions. Not only did they experience fewer recurrences, but their need for medical care and work absences was cut in half. Researchers say this simple, low-cost activity could revolutionize back pain prevention worldwide—and it’s something almost anyone can do.
Walking Halves Risk of Back Pain Recurrence
A groundbreaking study has revealed that adults with a history of low back pain stayed pain-free for nearly twice as long when they walked regularly. This is the first research of its kind to demonstrate such a significant benefit from a simple activity.
Low back pain affects around 800 million people across the globe and is one of the top causes of disability and diminished quality of life.
Experiencing back pain more than once is also extremely common. About 70 percent of individuals who recover from an episode will face another one within a year.
Barriers to Current Treatment Options
While current guidelines recommend both exercise and education to manage and prevent back pain, many exercise programs are expensive, complex, or require close supervision, making them inaccessible to large segments of the population.
To explore a more practical solution, researchers at Macquarie University’s Spinal Pain Research Group conducted a clinical trial to test whether walking could serve as an effective and affordable alternative.
They tracked 701 adults who had recently recovered from back pain, randomly assigning them either to a personalized walking program paired with six education sessions guided by a physiotherapist over six months, or to a control group that did not receive the intervention.
Key Results Published in The Lancet
Participants were monitored for one to three years, depending on when they entered the study. The results were published in The Lancet.
Professor Mark Hancock, senior author of the paper and a physiotherapy expert at Macquarie University, said the findings have the potential to significantly reshape the way back pain is prevented and treated.
Fewer Pain Episodes and Longer Relief
“The intervention group had fewer occurrences of activity-limiting pain compared to the control group, and a longer average period before they had a recurrence, with a median of 208 days compared to 112 days,” Professor Hancock says.
“Walking is a low-cost, widely accessible, and simple exercise that almost anyone can engage in, regardless of geographic location, age, or socioeconomic status.
“We don’t know exactly why walking is so good for preventing back pain, but it is likely to include the combination of the gentle oscillatory movements, loading and strengthening the spinal structures and muscles, relaxation and stress relief, and release of ‘feel-good’ endorphins.
“And of course, we also know that walking comes with many other health benefits, including cardiovascular health, bone density, healthy weight, and improved mental health.”
Major Reductions in Healthcare and Missed Work
Lead author Dr. Natasha Pocovi says in addition to providing participants with longer pain-free periods, the program was very cost-effective.
“It not only improved people’s quality of life, but it reduced their need both to seek healthcare support and the amount of time taken off work by approximately half,” she says.
“The exercise-based interventions to prevent back pain that have been explored previously are typically group-based and need close clinical supervision and expensive equipment, so they are much less accessible to the majority of patients.
“Our study has shown that this effective and accessible means of exercise has the potential to be successfully implemented at a much larger scale than other forms of exercise.”
Future of Preventive Back Pain Care
To build on these findings, the team now hopes to explore how they can integrate the preventive approach into the routine care of patients who experience recurrent low back pain.
Reference: “Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an individualised, progressive walking and education intervention for the prevention of low back pain recurrence in Australia (WalkBack): a randomised controlled trial” by Natasha C Pocovi, Chung-Wei Christine Lin, Simon D French, Petra L Graham, Johanna M van Dongen, Jane Latimer, Dafna Merom, Anne Tiedemann, Christopher G Maher, Ornella Clavisi, Shuk Yin Kate Tong and Mark J Hancock, 19 June 2024, The Lancet.
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00755-4
The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
A version of this article was originally published in July 2024.
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1 Comment
Just recently there was another study showing that the longer you walked the less back pain you experienced. I believe it was measured up to 100 minutes a day. (long time)
You need to walk at a moderately brisk pace. Strangely enough, just standing around will aggravate back pain. They call it museum walking, as if you took a few steps then stopped to admire a painting.
Simple exercises help a huge amount. Look up McGill Big Three back exercises. There are videos everywhere. These are simple and really help.
The basic idea is to strengthen the complex set of muscles in the lower back.
Really important, if you have back pain check with a doctor to make sure that there is not a more serious condition present that would be aggravated by exercise.