The Role of Exercise and Alternative Treatments for Low Back Pain

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Massage

One of the most common nonpharmacologic treatments for low back pain is massage. It is often the first treatment that patients seek out and is considered a passive treatment.7 Among those previously using CAM, massage was rated the most helpful for their current low back pain.7 There is a large spectrum on which specific techniques can be considered massage. The range of massage techniques can be grouped in various ways. One such grouping categorizes types of massage by the goal of treatment (

Discussion and summary

A systematic literature review showed that positive patient expectations were associated with better health outcomes.83 It also has been shown that in patients with low back pain, general expectations for improvement but not specific expectations of chosen therapies were significant for changes in disability.84 That same study showed that the association between general expectations and outcome was substantially higher when physicians directed care versus patient choice. The authors postulated

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