Relaxation Augmented Back Exercises and Chronic Low Back Pain Patients

The effect of relaxation augmented back exercises on the sensory pain perception and muscle tension level of chronic low back pain patients was tested on twenty subjects age twenty-five to sixty-five who were referred by their personal physician or by themselves. Only subjects without demonstrated organic back pain such as dislocated disc or scoliosis were admitted to the study groups. The design was a simple two-group pre-test and post-test experimental design using random assignment. The experimental and control groups each contained ten subjects. Both groups were taught William\u27s exercises. Subjects were encouraged to perform the back exercises twice a day. The experimental group was taught autogenic relaxation via audiocassette tape. Home practice of relaxation was requested to be done once a day. Sensory pain was measured from the scores obtained on the McGill-Nelzack Pain Questionnaire and on Johnson\u27s Pain Sensation Scale. Muscle tension measurements were taken on the battery-powered HT-1 Autogen Hyograph Trainer. Electromyograph (EHG) levels, measured in microvolts, were taken on frontalis and lumbo-sacral paraspinal muscles. All measurements were taken at an initial meeting and at meetings which took place at the end of weeks number two and four. Differences between groups were measured by t-test analysis at the 0.05 level of significance. Analysis of variance using repeated measures was used as secondary analysis. The study results demonstrated that no significant differences in sensory pain levels or frontalis muscle tension levels exist between the experimental and control groups. There was a difference between groups on lumbosacral paraspinal muscle tension levels. Factors contributing to the lack of significant differences may relate to the brevity of the four week treatment time and to the small sample size. The use of relaxation techniques to relieve chronic low back pain has been inconclusive. Further research needs to replicate existing studies using larger sample sizes, control for previous use of relaxation exercises, and perform interval follow-up to measure the generalization of laboratory learning to the natural environment