The effect of 8 weeks of core stabilization exercises on disability, abdominal and back muscle strength in patients with chronic low back pain due to disc herniation

Bachground and Low back pain is one of the most common health problems in communications across the world, especially in industrialized countries; hence it would be necessary to find some ways to prevent and treat the low back pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of core stabilization exercises on disability and abdominal and back muscle strength in patients with chronic low back pain caused by disc herniation. 30 male and female patients with chronic low back pain caused referred to physical therapy clinics purposefully selected and randomly were divided into two groups as experimental and control. The experimental group was received core stabilization exercises and conventional treatment; but the control group received only conventional treatment for 8-weeks. The Oswestry questionnaire was used to assess the variables of disability, moreover, the Straight leg raising test for abdominal muscle strength and dynamometer test for back muscle strength also were used. Analysis of covariance was used to test data and the significance level was considered as p≤0.05. The result indicated that 8-weeks of core stabilization exercises significantly reduced the disability (p=0.001). Moreover, increase in abdominal muscle strength (p=0.001) and back muscles strength were significantly higher (p 0.001) in the experimental group as compared to the control group. Prescribing core stabilization exercises by taking the necessary precautions, can be effective to reduce disability and improving muscle strength in patients with chronic low back pain caused by disc herniation.