Reiki is a cost-effective alternative treatment for lower back pain

A study published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine reported that Reiki, an alternative treatment from Japan, can help provide relief for patients suffering from lower back pain. According to the authors, individuals with intervertebral disc herniation (IVDH) will benefit from this alternative treatment.

• There are patients with IVDH who look for complementary and conventional medical therapies to manage related problems such as intense lower back pain.
• The authors set out to establish the effectiveness of Reiki compared with physiotherapy to minimize the lower back pain intensity and to improve the activities of daily living (ADL) in people with IDVH.
• For the clinical trial study, 60 individuals diagnosed with IVDH were randomly assigned to one of the Reiki, physiotherapy, or drug therapy groups.
• The researchers measured the severity of pain and ADL among the patients via a visual analog scale (VAS) pain and an ADL questionnaire prior to and following the intervention.
• Data from the study showed a notable difference between pain intensity and ADL improvement between Reiki and the drug therapy groups. The researchers noted that there wasn’t a noticeable difference between the Reiki and physiotherapy groups in managing pain and improving ADL.

The study authors concluded that while Reiki and physiotherapy were efficient methods that helped in pain management and ADL improvement among patients with IVDH, Reiki is a more cost-effective and faster treatment method than the latter.

Find the full text of study at this link.

You can browse more articles about traditional cures like Reiki at AlternativeMedicine.news.

Journal Reference: 

Jahantiqh F, Abdollahimohammad A, Firouzkouhi M, Ebrahiminejad V. EFFECTS OF REIKI VERSUS PHYSIOTHERAPY ON RELIEVING LOWER BACK PAIN AND IMPROVING ACTIVITIES DAILY LIVING OF PATIENTS WITH INTERVERTEBRAL DISC HERNIA. Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine. 2018;23. DOI: 10.1177/2515690×18762745