Efficacy of Flexion and Extension Exercises in Management of Low Back Pain

Objectives: Low back pain is a condition that continues to place a great deal of stress on the healthcare system. Globally one out of three people suffer from low back pain. Lifetime prevalence of low back pain is estimated to be at least 60-70%. Low back pain (LBP) is a major health problem because of its high prevalence worldwide. Design: Interventional longitudinal studies. Methodology: A total of 50 patients were included as per pre define inclusion and exclusion criteria and assigned into two groups each having 25 patients. Group A was given Flexion exercises, Back Flexion exercises while Group B was given Extension exercises, additionally both the group given NSAID and deep heat (Short Wave Diathermy). The patient’s outcome measures were assessed by visual analog scale. Results: Follow up showed that all 25 patients who did extension exercise could walk independently. Both treatments are found to be statistically significant in improving walking score of patients (p-value= 0.000). In group comparison, extension exercise is statistically better in improving patient’s walking ability than flexion exercise (p-value= 0.025). Conclusion: Although both treatment were equally effective but back extension exercises was seemed to be more effective in the management of LBP as compare to Lumbar flexion exercises