How The Mind Might Help Ease Chronic Back Pain
Led by Penn State College of Medicine and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the largest study of its kind recently tested whether mindfulness or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) could help adults with chronic low back pain that hadn’t responded to previous treatments, including opioids. All 770 participants had been on daily opioids for at least three months and experienced moderate to severe pain with significant effects on their quality of life and function.
The volunteers were assigned to either mindfulness training (learning to observe physical sensations and manage reactions to pain through awareness and breathing techniques) or CBT (developing skills to challenge and change unhelpful thought patterns related to pain). Each group attended eight weeks of two-hour, therapist-led sessions; practiced skills 30 minutes a day, six days a week; and continued their regular care (including medications). At both 6 and 12 months, both groups saw significant, lasting reductions in pain; improved function; better quality of life; and decreased opioid use. The researchers noted that chronic pain is not purely physical and suggest that by using readily available psychological and behavioral tools the problems associated with opioid use can be mitigated.
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