The Effect of Combined Therapeutic Protocol (Exercise Therapy and Massage) on Quality of Life in Male Patients Suffering from Chronic Low Back Pain due to Lumbar Disc Herniation

Document Type : Original Article

Abstract

Low back pain is one of the most widespread pains. In addition to pain which is the main problem of the illness, general health condition of the patients changes so that problems such as reduced physical function, professional and social inability, physiological stress and totally, reduced quality of life (QOL) arise. In this study, 
our goal was to evaluate the influence of combined therapeutic protocol (exercise therapy and massage) on 
QOL in a group of male patients suffering from chronic low back pain due to disc herniation. We conducted a 
semi-experimental study with two groups (experimental and control), each consisted of 15 male patients with 
average age of 41.6±4.98 years. Combined protocol was performed for eight weeks on the experimental group. 
Control group had no special activity during this period. SF-36 questionnaire was used to evaluate patients' 
QOL. Dependent and independent t tests (p≤0.05) were used for data analysis. Results showed that the combined protocol had a positive effect on the improvement of quality of life in both physical and mental aspects 
in the experimental group. Based on these results, therapeutic protocol can be applie

Keywords

• chronic low back pain
• disc herniation
• therapeutic exercise
• massage
• quality of life

---