Technoglitch
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Sixty-five million Americans suffer from chronic lower back pain, and many feel they have tried it all: physical therapy, painkillers, shots. Now a new study reports that many people may find relief with a form of meditation that harnesses the power of the mind to manage pain.
The technique, called mindfulness-based stress reduction, involves a combination of meditation, body awareness and yoga, and focusses on increasing awareness and acceptance of one’s experiences, whether they involve physical discomfort or emotional pain. People with lower back pain who learned the meditation technique showed greater improvements in function compared to those who had cognitive behavioural therapy, which has been shown to help ease pain, or standard back care.
Participants assigned to meditation or cognitive behaviour therapy received eight weekly two-hour sessions of group training in the techniques. After six months, those learning meditation had an easier time doing things like getting up out of a chair, going up the stairs and putting on their socks, and were less irritable and less likely to stay at home or in bed because of pain. They were still doing better a year later.
The findings come amid growing concerns about opioid painkillers and a surge of overdose deaths involving the drugs. At the beginning of the trial, 11 per cent of the participants said they had used an opioid within the last week to treat their pain, and they were allowed to continue with their usual care throughout the trial.
One of the strengths of the study [http://goo.gl/p8ptyv], published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on Tuesday, March 22, was its sheer size. It included 342 participants ranging in age from 20 to 70. They were randomly assigned in equal numbers to either mindfulness-based stress reduction, cognitive behavioural therapy, or to continue doing what they were already doing.
Sixty-one per cent of participants who received meditation training experienced meaningful improvement in functioning six months after the programme started, slightly more than the 58 per cent who improved with cognitive behavioural treatment but far exceeding the 44 per cent who improved with their usual care.
Those who got cognitive behavioural therapy had greater improvement when it came to a measure called “pain bothersomeness”, with 45 per cent gaining meaningful improvement compared with 44 per cent in the meditation group. But both these treatments were more effective than the usual treatment, which led to improvement in only 27 per cent of people.
A lead cause of disability
Dr. Cherkin said mindfulness-based stress reduction may be particularly helpful for people because even if their use lapses, they develop a skill they can draw on later when they need it.
“That suggests that training the mind has potential to change people on a more lasting basis than doing a manipulation of the spine or massage of the back,” techniques that may be “effective in the short term but lose effects over time,” Dr. Cherkin said.
“You can practise it by waiting at the bus stop and just breathing.”
It’s mind over matter - The Hindu
The technique, called mindfulness-based stress reduction, involves a combination of meditation, body awareness and yoga, and focusses on increasing awareness and acceptance of one’s experiences, whether they involve physical discomfort or emotional pain. People with lower back pain who learned the meditation technique showed greater improvements in function compared to those who had cognitive behavioural therapy, which has been shown to help ease pain, or standard back care.
Participants assigned to meditation or cognitive behaviour therapy received eight weekly two-hour sessions of group training in the techniques. After six months, those learning meditation had an easier time doing things like getting up out of a chair, going up the stairs and putting on their socks, and were less irritable and less likely to stay at home or in bed because of pain. They were still doing better a year later.
The findings come amid growing concerns about opioid painkillers and a surge of overdose deaths involving the drugs. At the beginning of the trial, 11 per cent of the participants said they had used an opioid within the last week to treat their pain, and they were allowed to continue with their usual care throughout the trial.
One of the strengths of the study [http://goo.gl/p8ptyv], published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on Tuesday, March 22, was its sheer size. It included 342 participants ranging in age from 20 to 70. They were randomly assigned in equal numbers to either mindfulness-based stress reduction, cognitive behavioural therapy, or to continue doing what they were already doing.
Sixty-one per cent of participants who received meditation training experienced meaningful improvement in functioning six months after the programme started, slightly more than the 58 per cent who improved with cognitive behavioural treatment but far exceeding the 44 per cent who improved with their usual care.
Those who got cognitive behavioural therapy had greater improvement when it came to a measure called “pain bothersomeness”, with 45 per cent gaining meaningful improvement compared with 44 per cent in the meditation group. But both these treatments were more effective than the usual treatment, which led to improvement in only 27 per cent of people.
A lead cause of disability
Dr. Cherkin said mindfulness-based stress reduction may be particularly helpful for people because even if their use lapses, they develop a skill they can draw on later when they need it.
“That suggests that training the mind has potential to change people on a more lasting basis than doing a manipulation of the spine or massage of the back,” techniques that may be “effective in the short term but lose effects over time,” Dr. Cherkin said.
“You can practise it by waiting at the bus stop and just breathing.”
It’s mind over matter - The Hindu
