Pooled results from 22 clinical trials show that psychological interventions help individuals with chronic low back pain experience less actual pain, less pain-related interference with daily living, less depression and work-related disability, and greater health-related quality of life.
Dr. Robert D. Kerns stated “The data across randomized, controlled studies are consistent.” Psychological interventions for chronic low back pain elicit “positive results.”
In the overall analysis, psychological treatments — namely, behavioral and cognitive-behavioral therapies; self-regulatory therapies such as hypnosis, biofeedback and relaxation; and supportive counseling — either alone or as part of a multidisciplinary approach proved superior to no treatment or “treatment as usual.”
“The largest and most consistent effect was a reduction in pain intensity,” Kerns stated.
Low back pain affects 15 to 45 percent of adults annually and at least 70 percent of adults over their lifetime. “We continue to have a huge, very costly problem in our society, but we have an intervention that is effective, and we need to do a better job of creating access to these services,” Kerns said.
SOURCE: Health Psychology, January 2007.
While I owned a chronic pain center for 10 years, we documented over and over the effects of mental and emotional stress on pain of all kinds. Many of us suffer needlessly from pain just because we never forgave someone or left our past hurts in the past. Amazingly, dealing with these pains brings a faster and more completes relief of pain. Believe me; this happens every day in my practice.
God Bless,
Dr. Benzinger
