Can Stretching Exercises Reduce Your Risks of Experiencing Low Back Pain?

摘要

Background and Aim: Stretching exercises are recommended for treat and prevention of symptoms of low back pain. Its effectiveness to improve postural alignment that contributes to low back pain has not been evaluated during prolonged sitting. The aim of this biomechanical study was to evaluate if performing stretching exercises during prolong sitting improved postural alignment. Method: 14 healthy subjects were randomly assigned to a control (C) and experimental (E) groups. Subjects in the (C) sat continuously for 2 hours to watch a movie while subjects in (E) were instructed to perform stretching exercises during the sitting period. Kinematic of changes in spinal posture throughout the sitting period was identified by retro-reflective markers placed on the trunk and pelvis. Subjects also expressed their Body Perceived Discomfort (BPD) they experience at the end of the prolonged sitting period. Results: Trunk inclination (<=-0.737, i*=0.489), thoracic kyphosis (<= 1.685, P =0.143) and lumbar lordosis (/=-0.236, P =0.821) did not change significantly between the first hour and second hours of sitting within (C). There was also no significant differences in kinematics of the various spinal measures among (E) which performed stretching exercises during the prolonged sitting period (trunk inclination: t=-1.560, p=0.170, thoracic kyphosis: <=-0.907, P=0.399 & lumbar lordosis: t=-0.015, P =0.988). However, BPD scores between groups at the neck (P=0.005), upper back (p=0.003), mid and low back (p=0.005) and buttocks (p=0.016) were significantly lower among (E) compared to (C). Conclusion: This novel biomechanical study recommends the performance of stretching exercises to reduce the discomforts along the spine during periods of prolong sitting. The reduction of discomfort was not due to change in spinal alignment. Hence, ergonomic chairs that maintain static proper alignment are not effective as a treatment or prevention of low back pain.