According to a review in the January issue of the journal Health Psychology, psychological methods of treatment like hypnosis, biofeedback, relaxation and counselling may be helpful in alleviating chronic low back pain.
American scientists examined the results of twenty two studies conducted between 1982 and 2003 on patients suffering from low back pain. They concluded that psychological treatments both improve health-related quality of life and considerably reduce the risk of depression. These methods appear also to lower patients’ experience of pain.
"Due to the fact that this analysis was both more comprehensive and more conservative than previous reviews, we have the best evidence to date that these interventions are helpful," lead author of the review Robert Kerns, of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, said in a prepared statement.
Fighting pain with the mind
Kearns explained also that he and his team were somewhat astonished by the finding that psychological methods of treatment can decrease pain. That’s because when psychologists first began to develop these sorts of treatments a few decades ago, the only goal was to help patients cope with their pain, not to actually reduce their pain levels.
"Nevertheless, an increasing body of knowledge indicates that these interventions are actually having the most important effect on people’s experience of pain," Kearns stated.
The review discovered that of all the psychological interventions, cognitive-behavioural and self-regulatory treatments appeared to provide the most wonderful benefits to patients suffering from low back pain.
"Psychological interventions are not cures, but they do lower pain and improve function, and they are relevant components in the treatment of patients suffering from chronic pain," Dennis Turk, professor of anaesthesiology and pain research at the University of Washington in Seattle, said in a prepared statement.
