Acute Effects of a Brief Physical Exercise Intervention on Somatosensory Perception, Lumbar Strength, and Flexibility in Patients with Nonspecific Chronic Low-Back Pain
Background: Evidence-based clinical guidelines consider physical exercise one of the best nonpharmacological interventions for low-back pain (LBP), but it is necessary to clarify the exercise-induced hypoalgesia effect of different modalities of exercise in chronic pain populations. Purpose: This st...
| Autores: | , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Conselleria de Salut i Consum del Govern de les Illes Balears |
| Repositorio: | Docusalut |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:docusalut.com:20.500.13003/19417 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13003/19417 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | low-back pain exercise therapy aerobic exercise flexibility |
| Sumario: | Background: Evidence-based clinical guidelines consider physical exercise one of the best nonpharmacological interventions for low-back pain (LBP), but it is necessary to clarify the exercise-induced hypoalgesia effect of different modalities of exercise in chronic pain populations. Purpose: This study focused on exploring acute changes in tactile and pressure-pain perception and lumbar strength and flexibility in patients with nonspecific chronic LBP (NSCLBP) after performing one of three 20-minute physical exercise modalities. Methods: A total of 81 patients with NSCLBP were pseudorandomly distributed into three groups of 20-minute physical exercise - 1) aerobic (n=21, mean age 42 +/- 9.72 years, nine men), 2) stretching (n=21, mean age 40 +/- 11.37 years, ten men), and 3) strengthening (n=20, mean age 35.80 +/- 11.56 years, ten men) - and 4) a control group (n=19, mean age 38.64 +/- 10.24 years, eight men), and completed self-reported questionnaires during the same period. Tactile and pressure-pain thresholds and isometric lumbar muscle endurance and flexibility were assessed before and after this brief exercise-based intervention. Results: All groups were comparable in terms of sociodemographic and clinical data, cardiovascular capacity, and self-reported data onphysical disability, mood, motivation, psychological response to stimulus properties of physical exercise, and physical activity enjoyment. Our analyses revealed higher tactile sensitivity (p<0.001) and pressure-pain thresholds (p<0.001) at the forefinger than other body locations. We also found lower pain sensitivity (p=0.010) and pressure pain-intensity ratings (p=0.001) and higher lumbar flexibility (p<0.001) after intervention. After calculation of absolute pre-post differences, higher tactile sensitivity was observed at the gluteus medius muscle than the erector spinal muscle only after aerobic intervention (p=0.046). Conclusion: These results add some evidence about different modalities of exercise-induced hypoalgesia in NSCLBP. However, the fact that we also found improvements in the control group limits our conclusions. |
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