Psychotherapy for Chronic Back Pain: How Can Psychological Interventions Help Manage, Treat the Condition?

Based on a systematic review of 97 past trials that covered 17 different methods of handling chronic back pain, researchers discovered that adding psychological interventions to treatment, primarily behavioral treatment and pain education, resulted in the most sustainable physical function and pain intensity.

As indicated in a ScienceAlert report, a comprehensive new study involving over 13,000 patients suggested that the best therapies for chronic back pain should comprise "both physical and mental aspects" instead of concentrating only on physical remedies.

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In the United States, approximately eight percent of adults are thought to experience persistent or chronic back pain, resulting in costs when it comes to both health care and missed days of work. Because of this new study, treatments could turn more targeted, not to mention more effective.

According to Emma Ho, a physiotherapist from the University of Sydney in Australia, clinical guidelines consistently suggests "a combination of exercise and psychosocial treatments" to manage chronic back pain.

Psychological Interventions

Ho explained that very little is known about the different kinds of psychological treatments available, including their efficacies. As a result, both patients and doctors can frequently be uncertain about the best way forward when treating the condition.

One of the motivations behind this new research was to clarify the existing treatment and what's the most effective. Six main types of psychological interventions were determined for the study's statistical analysis, a similar Hindustan Times report specified.

These include cognitive-behavioral treatments, behavioral interventions, mindfulness, pain educational programs, and counseling. The fifth type mentioned was trials in which two or more psychological approaches were incorporated.

Pain Education and Behavior Therapy

As specified in the study published in the BMJ Journal, to improve physical function, cognitive behavioral therapy and physiotherapy and pain education with physiotherapy were more effective than physiotherapy alone. To help with pain intensity, behavioral therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and pain education were all practical additions.

The effectiveness changed over time, though, with the trials being conducted over different durations. Pain education and behavior therapy were seen to have the most effect over six and 12 months from treatment. Based on the available data, such interventions seem to be safe.

In their paper, the researchers reported that investigating the comparative efficacy and safety of the wide range of existing psychological interventions for chronic lower back pain might help enhance the guideline recommendations' clarity and better support patients and clinicians in treatment decision-making.

Chronic Back Pain

Essentially, chronic back pain is defined as a type of pain that lasts more than 12 weeks, and it frequently comes with psychological impacts attached, including anxiety and depression.

Those mental health effects can then lead to a person's physical health deteriorating. The team's results other than physical function and intensity of pain were quality of life-related to health, compliance with therapy safety, and fear-avoidance, which means avoiding movement through the fear of pain.

There are some limitations to this research to talk about, though. According to the study authors, the long-term efficacy of these treatments, beyond 12 months, still needs to be examined, and some of the trials employed in the analysis had poor quality safety reporting data.

Nevertheless, taken as a whole, this new study offers essential insights into which psychological interventions work best and how much more effective complementary therapies can be compared in general to depending solely on physical treatments and exercises.

Related information about psychotherapy for chronic back pain is shown on Health News's YouTube video below:

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