Impact of retrowalking on pain, range of motion, muscle fatigability, and balance in collegiate athletes with chronic mechanical low back pain

Background Low back pain (LBP) has been found to profoundly increase in athletes in the last decade. There are numerous treatment options available for LBP of which retrowalking seems to be a promising option for these patients; however, its potential utility in athletes is not known yet. Aim To investigate the effect of addition of retrowalking to conventional exercises on pain, range of motion, muscle fatigability, and balance in collegiate athletes with chronic mechanical LBP. Methods Subjects were screened using Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and those having mild-to-moderate disability were included in the study. A sample of 30 athletes were randomly assigned into two groups, retrowalking + conventional exercise ( n = 15) and conventional exercise ( n = 15). Pain, flexion range of motion, balance, and muscle fatigability were examined before and after 4 weeks of the intervention. Retrowalking group performed retrowalk on a treadmill at self-paced speed for 15 min/day for 3 days per week for 4 weeks along with the conventional exercises for back pain, whereas participants in the control group performed conventional exercises alone for the same duration. Results Significant differences were observed in pain ( p = 0.003) and balance ( p = 0.003) between the groups after the intervention period, signifying greater improvement in the retrowalking group. No significant group differences were observed for flexion range of motion ( p = 0.97) and muscle fatigability ( p > 0.05). Conclusions Main findings of the present study suggest that retrowalking when added to conventional exercises may be helpful in reducing chronic mechanical LBP and improving dynamic balance. Whereas retrowalking when combined with conventional exercises has no additional effect in improving the flexion range of motion and reducing muscle fatigability.