If you’re one of the 619 million people who suffer from low back pain, according to the World Health Organization, you might want to find your walking shoes.
That’s the takeaway from a new study published in The Lancet, which showed that a combination of walking and some know-how imparted by a physiotherapist “significantly reduced” flare-ups of low back pain in people who suffer from it.
The scientists out of Australia explained, “An individualized, progressive walking and education intervention significantly reduced low back pain recurrence,” calling the combination an “accessible, scalable, and safe intervention” to stopping the pain in its tracks.
The “education” angle was, of course, a medical consultation, combined with an expert’s recommendation about how best to go about putting one foot in front of the other, with an ultimate goal of walking at least 30 minutes a day, five times a week for sixth months.
While exercise has already been proven to mitigate back pain, this was the first study to look into the easiest form of exercise that is accessible to most people.
Lead author Dr. Natasha Pocovi noted, “It not only improved people’s quality of life, but it reduced their need both to seek healthcare support and the amount of time taken off work by approximately half.”