Low back pain is one of the most common diagnoses seen in Physical Therapy clinics.  In our Boulder Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy locations we specialize in the conservative treatment of low back pain using patient education, spinal manipulation, and exercise.  Consistent with the latest medical research this approach has been shown to improve patient recoveries over a shorter period of time and prevent the recurrence of these symptoms.  Conversely, passive treatments such as modalities and spinal traction have been associated with longer recoveries.  I recent study highlights the impact of patients with low back pain treated with manual therapy, active or passive treatments.

Farrokhi and colleagues published their findings on utilization of manual therapy and interventions for patients with low back pain in the journal Physical Therapy (2024).  Authors completed a retrospective cohort trial of 4800 participants with low back pain who were treated with Physical Therapy in the military’s health care system.  They reported 90% of patients received active interventions such as exercise.  Patients who were provided a greater percentage of passive interventions required more visits and also had a higher risk of symptom recurrence.  Conversely, patients treated with manual therapy and exercise experienced half the risk of recurrence.  Decreasing participants utilization of opioids, spinal injections, or other MD visits.

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