Walking for Low Back Pain

Up to 84% of the general Canadian population will experience low back pain throughout their lifetime (Lacasse et al., 2016).

Who would have thought that one of the simplest forms of exercise would be one of the most effective ways to deal with your back pain? If you guessed walking, you’re right!

Getting movement through the joints in your spine, hips, knees and ankles enables your body to move fluid around, leading to increased blood flow and eventually, repair. Studies have shown that in both the short- and long-term walking can be an effective adjunct for treatment of low back pain.

In conjunction with therapies like Osteopathy, walking can help to relieve pain and improve function in the low back (Sitthipornvorakul et al., 2018). I highly encourage my patients to get up and walk around throughout the day. There is nothing worse for the body than sitting in the same position all day, no matter how good it might feel at the time.

Chronic pain persists because we don’t challenge our bodies to move in positions we don’t like. This is why people come to me for help – combining treatment with simple exercises like walking is where we see the best results.
So, get out there and do some walking!

Lacasse, A., Roy, J. S., Parent, A. J., Noushi, N., Odenigbo, C., Page, G., . . . Ware, M. A. (2017). The Canadian minimum dataset for chronic low back pain research: a cross-cultural adaptation of the National Institutes of Health Task Force Research Standards. CMAJ Open, 5(1), E237-e248. doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20160117
Sitthipornvorakul, E., Klinsophon, T., Sihawong, R., & Janwantanakul, P. (2018). The effects of walking intervention in patients with chronic low back pain: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Musculoskelet Sci Pract, 34, 38-46. doi: 10.1016/j.msksp.2017.12.003