Published Paper Details:

Background: The prevalence rates of mechanical lower back pain is higher in the Indian population compared to global and other ethnic populations. It affects a large proportion of the population, especially women and elementary workers. Objective of the study: To determine the effectiveness of myofascial release therapy in women of age group 30- 50 suffering from mechanical low back pain for less than 12 months and to generate clinical evidence for myofascial release. METHOD: Simple random sampling of the target population was done for a sample size of 40. Women included in the study were exposed to myofascial release treatment for 3 times a week for 3 weeks. It was three- step procedure: hot moist pack (HMP) (10-15 mins), MFR (10 mins on each side) followed by Icing (5-7 mins). Pre-test and post-test data were collected for the intensity of pain, range of motion, and manual muscle stretching. RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed that the 30- 45 years age group women with an average BMI 28 showed significant improvement in reduction of pain and range of motion compared to age group 45.1- 50 years (BMI- 30.5). Muscle stretching power was also significantly improved for 30- 40 years age group women. CONCLUSION: Myofascial release therapy is an effective technique to alleviate primary symptoms of pain, improve muscle endurance and reduce movement restriction in patients with normal and overweight BMI. However, improvement in older women with an obese BMI range was not found statistically significant during 3- week therapy program.