Managing Low Back Pain with Integrative Lifestyle Medicine
Original Editors - Ziya Altug
Top Contributors - Cindy John-Chu, Kim Jackson and Rachael Lowe
Introduction
According to the book from the American College of Sports Medicine, “Low back pain is considered a major public health problem, with the lifetime prevalence reported as high as 84%.”[1] Integrative lifestyle medicine strategies such as whole foods and a plant-based diet, sustainable physical activity and mind-body exercises, restorative sleep, stress management, awareness and mitigation of substance abuse and addiction, establishing meaningful social networks and self-care may be a part of therapeutic interventions to help manage chronic lower back pain.[2]
Figure 1 shows various options for healthcare providers to consider for low back pain.
Adapted from: Traeger AC et al. Low Back Pain[3] and Qaseem A et al. Noninvasive treatments for acute, subacute, and chronic low back pain: A clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians[4]
What is Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine?
See the Physiopedia page for “Lifestyle Medicine for Health and Disease Management.”
See the Physiopedia page for “Integrative Medicine for Health and Pain Management.”
See the Physiopedia page for “Qigong for Health and Disease Management.”
See the Physiopedia page for “Social Connectedness for Health and Disease Management.”
See the Physiopedia page for “Sunlight, Outdoor Light, and Light Therapy in Disease Management.”
See the Physiopedia page for “Culinary Medicine for Health and Disease Management.”
Related Articles
- Bonakdar RA. Integrative pain management. Med Clin North Am. 2017;101(5):987-1004. doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2017.04.012
- Tick H, Nielsen A, Pelletier KR, et al. Evidence-based nonpharmacologic strategies for comprehensive pain care: The Consortium Pain Task Force White Paper. Explore (NY). 2018;14(3):177-211. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2018.02.001
Related Books
- Egger G, Binns A, Rossner S, Sagner M, eds. Lifestyle Medicine: Lifestyle, the Environment and Preventive Medicine in Health and Disease, 3rd ed. London, UK; 2017: 3.
- Frates B, Bonnet JP, Joseph R. & Peterson JA. Lifestyle Medicine Handbook: An Introduction to the Power of Healthy Habits. Monterey, CA: Healthy Learning; 2019: 44.
- Rippe JM, ed. Lifestyle Medicine, 3rd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2019: xiv.
Resources
- Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health
- American College of Lifestyle Medicine
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
References
- ↑ American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer; 2022: 172.
- ↑ Altug Z. Lifestyle medicine for chronic lower back pain: an evidence-based approach. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2021;15: 425-433. doi:10.1177/1559827620971547
- ↑ Traeger AC, Qaseem A, McAuley JH. Low Back Pain. JAMA. 2021;326(3):286. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.19715
- ↑ Qaseem A, Wilt TJ1, McLean RM et al. Noninvasive treatments for acute, subacute, and chronic low back pain: A clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med 2017; 166(7):514-530. doi: 10.7326/M16-2367.