The effect of eight weeks of hydrotherapy and ginger on psychological indicators and factors related to obesity in women with chronic nonspecific back pain

Back pain is a common problem among obese people in most societies. One of the new methods that has received more attention is hydrotherapy. Also, other suggested solutions are the use of drugs, especially anti-inflammatory and analgesic herbs such as ginger. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of eight weeks of hydrotherapy and ginger on psychological indicators and factors related to obesity in women with low back pain.

The present study was a quasi-experimental. 48 obese women with back pain in Behbahan were randomly divided into four groups: hydrotherapy + ginger consumption (n=12), hydrotherapy group (n=12), ginger supplement group (n=12), control group (n=12). The training program was performed for eight weeks, three sessions per week, each session lasting 60 minutes. Subjects in the hydrotherapy + ginger group and the ginger supplement group consumed one gram of ginger powder daily for eight weeks. Resilience, sleep quality, body mass index, weight and waist to pelvic ratio (WHR) were measured before and after eight. SPSS software version 24 was used for statistical operations. A significance was considered P ≤ 0.05 in all tests. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.

Comparing the results in two stages showed that there was a significant difference between the indicators of resilience, sleep quality, body mass index and body weight of obese women with low back pain in the different groups (P≤0.05). There was no significant difference in the waist to pelvis ratio (P≥0.05).

According to the research results, concomitant use of ginger supplement along with hydrotherapy exercises can reduce back pain, increase resilience and improve sleep quality and weight loss in obese women with low back pain.