Abstract
Consistently, estimates have stated that 4 out of5 individuals in the U.S. will experience some sort of low back pain (LBP) in their lifetime. There are a variety of approaches for treatment of LBP and the rationale for each may vary according to the cause of the patient's, pain whether or not it is caused by a specific injury or incident, the nature of the injury, duration of symptoms, and the patient's health status. Early studies demonstrated mixed findings on the benefit of exercise for those experiencing low back pain. For the most part these earlier studies failed to classify patients by their characteristics to determine if exercise specifically designed for patients with those characteristics would lead to positive outcomes such as a reduction of pain. Researchers then focused on developing clinical prediction rules to classify patients and determine the treatment that most likely would benefit the patients with a certain set of characteristics. Current research suggests that many individuals who are experiencing LBP pain and meet certain criteria may benefit from core strengthening and stabilization exercise. Recent reports in the literature have focused on the role of the local muscles that provide spinal stability. Numerous studies have investigated the corset effect of the transversus abdominus, the thoracolumbar fascia and the role of the lumbar multifidi and how these muscles working together contribute to spinal stabilization. The purpose of this independent study is to determine if there is adequate evidence in the literature to conclude that core strengthening and stabilization exercise is effective as an intervention for low back pain, and how to appropriately classify which individuals would benefit from core strengthening and stability. This author proposed to gain through this independent study an extensive knowledge about effective, evidence based lumbopelvic exercise plans for the treatment of low back pain. Through an extensive review of the literature and attendance at conferences about spinal exercise and core stabilization, this author has come to realize that exercise therapy can be an effective intervention for improving function and decreasing symptoms of low back pain. Many individuals with LBP will experience better outcomes from exercise therapy when the exercise intervention matches the set of clinical characteristics of the patient as determined by the clinical prediction rules. Of particular interest is to determine which patients would benefit from a stabilization exercise program. When patients are able to successfully master core stability and strengthening exercise programs, research has shown positive outcomes in the reduction of LBP.