Lumbar stabilizing exercises improve activities of daily living in patients with lumbar disc herniation

Lumbar stabilizing exercises (LSE) have been recommended to improve lumbar function in patients with low back injury so that these patients may improve their activities of daily living (ADL). This study has been designed to investigate the effect of LSE in patients with herniated lumbar disc (HLD). Sixty patients (aged 22-55 years old) with HLD at L4-L5 or L5-S1 were randomly arranged into two groups (A and 13) of thirty. Group A performed a LSE protocol for four weeks upon recruitment into the study, followed by a four week no-exercise period, whilst group B performed the opposite. Measurements were taken before and after the LSE protocol and no-exercise period and included; pain (measured on a visual analogue scale): trunk flexion; straight leg raising (SLR) angle without pain and time to complete ADL tasks such as climbing 5 steps. 10 meter walking, laying prone from standing position and standing up front prone position. Significant pain relief (p < 0.0001), left and right SLR angle improvement (p < 0.005), increased trunk flexion (p < 0.001) and improved ADL performance (p < 0.05) were found after first four week LSE period in group A. The same results were found in group B following their exercise period. These findings indicate that a LSE protocol may improve ADL performance in patients with HLD.