Most doctors and researchers now agree that lower back pain relief is best effectuated through a biopsychosocial approach – a recovery plan that combines physical efforts with mental and interactive strategies. This tripartite model is the basis of multidisciplinary biopsychosocial rehabilitation (MBR).
According to Steve Kamper, PhD, of the University of South Australia’s Body in Mind (BiM) project, MBR is a care framework for chronic pain; it includes various therapeutic elements “that target different factors associated with the chronic pain presentation, [as] delivered by practitioners from different clinical backgrounds.”
The BiM team realized in 2013 that although many experts believe in the value of MBR, the system had not been carefully analyzed as a low back pain treatment for over a decade. To fill that void, the project completed a Cochrane Review (the most widely recognized international standard of evidence-based healthcare), subsequently publishing highlights in the British Medical Journal.
Review parameters
Body in Mind’s team looked at all peer-reviewed research that had appeared in a major journal through last February. The researchers located more than three dozen studies, involving over 6800 patients, that pitted the multidisciplinary model versus alternatives.
The bulk of the research gauged MBR against traditional, siloed treatment, or therapies that focused exclusively on physical recovery. Every patient participant in the reviewed research was considered to have chronic pain, suffering for at least 90 days.
Twice as likely to return to work
The results suggests MBR is the best strategy: “There was moderate quality evidence that multidisciplinary treatment results in larger improvements … than usual care or treatments aimed only at physical factors,” according to the lay summary of the review.
Multidisciplinary pain management is not dramatically preferable to alternatives, only accounting for a drop of 1 point out of 10 on a self-reported pain scale. However, the modest impact should be considered substantial for any patients who have had difficulty finding lower back pain relief using other therapeutic plans.
More impressively, the findings also indicate that MBR makes it twice as likely that a pain management patient will be back on the job within the year.
Finally, the scholars suggest that patients seeking multidisciplinary care should be careful that their treatments are affordable, so that the positive impact of MBR for lower back pain relief isn’t counteracted by financial stress.
Getting help
As indicated above, MBR is the best way to treat your low back pain and regain your quality of life.
Plus, regarding that final point, you can get your first appointment with us completely free. Find out today if you qualify for our multidisciplinary program.