the effect of core stabilization exercise (cse) and high-power laser (hpl) on chronic low back pain (clbp) in female athletes

Purpose: low back pain (lbp) frequently occurs in daily life. chronic low back pain (clbp) is defined as pain in the lumbosacral area of the spine, of more than 12 weeks' duration. the aim of this study was to compare the effect of high-power therapy (hpl) with core stabilization exercise (cse), in the treatment of clbp. method: a total of 30 female patients participated in this study, with a mean (sd) age of 32.23 (7.85) years. patients were randomly assigned into two groups and treated with hpl (hpl group, n=15), and core stabilization exercise (exs group, n=15). rom of lumbar spine was measured by an inclinometer. the outcomes measured pain and functional disability using visual analog scale (vas), roland disability questionnaire (rdq), and modified oswestry disability questionnaire (modq). statistical analyses were performed to compare within and between group differences. results: rom, vas, rdq and modq showed significantly improve after 4-week treatment in both groups (p<0.05). however, there was no significant between-group differences in any variables (p>0.05). conclusions: both treatments were effective in the treatment of clbp in female athletes.