Strengthening exercise in management of back pain

Chronic back pain is one of the most common and expensive medical treatments facing today´s population. Its costs are estimated in excess of 100 Billion dollars in the United States alone. Causation is poorly understood and there is little common language amongst health care providers. In addition, costly medical diagnostic tests are performed that do little to inform treatment. In the era of evidence-based medicine, it is important that back pain physiotherapy find ways to communicate better with one another. The key to better communication is measurement within the context of an evidence based, protocol driven clinical rehabilitation model. Musculoskeletal strengthening of the lumbar and cervical extensors has been shown to significantly reduce pain and provide successful clinical results for patients suffering from chronic back and neck pain. Two reasons for this success are: 1) safe exercise prescription based on pre-treatment evaluation, and 2) Objective measurement of treatment during the clinical course.