Analysis of the lumbar column mobility and influence of the manual therapy and kinesiotherapy on the low back pain

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of the manual therapy and kinesiotherapy in patients with low back pain, and the lumbar motion in individuals with or without this pain. In order to show the effects of the manual therapy and kinesiotherapy a sample was used containing 25 subjects with ages ranging between 18-65 years old, with a clinic diagnosis of low back pain; subjects who had been submitted to lumbar surgeries, who had had rheumatic diseases and/or fractures were not included and were submitted to another treatment. The subjects’ pain was evaluated by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and their lumbar motion was evaluated by the Schober test. The patients were submitted to a physiotherapy treatment with a total of 30 sessions including manual therapy and kinesiotherapy, and after the treatment they were evaluated by the Visual Analogue Scale. For the lumbar motion analysis by the Schober test, a control group was established, with same age and sex individuals, without low back pain symptoms. The VAS results of the patients with low back pain were statistically analyzed before and after the treatment by the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. The “t” test was used to show the difference of the lumbar motion between the patients and the control group. The statistical significance was settled in 5% (p< 0,05). In the final results it was concluded that there was a significant statistical difference when comparing the VAS of the subjects before and after the treatment (p<0,05) and also for the lumbar motion of the asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. It was concluded that kinesiotherapy and manual therapy had a significant influence on the low back pain treatment and that lumbar motion is lowered when compared to asymptomatic individuals.