Comparison of the Efficacy of Different Long-term Interventions on Chronic Low Back Pain Using the Cross-sectional Area of the Multifidus Muscle and the Thickness of the Transversus Abdominis Muscle as Evaluation Indicators

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the different effects of long-term intervention between proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) and neuromuscular joint facilitation (NJF) patterns for the pelvis on chronic low back pain as assessed by the cross-sectional area of the multifidus muscle and the thickness of the transversus abdominis muscle. [Subjects] The subjects were 12 young people (five males, seven females) who had experienced chronic low back pain on one side for more than 6 months. [Methods] The subjects were treated by resting, PNF or NJF therapy, and each treatment was administered for one month. Ultrasonography was used to measure the changes in the transversus abdominis muscle thickness and the multifidus muscle cross-sectional area. [Results] The thickness of the transversus abdominis muscle and the cross-sectional area of the multifidus muscle in the NJF group, after resting, increased significantly and were higher than those in the PNF group. [Conclusion] The results show that significantly better improvement can be obtained for chronic low back pain by applying long-term intervention of NJF patterns.