Study of Combined Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Phototherapy for Adults With Chronic Lower Back Pain Aiming to Improve Pain Relief Compared to Standard Care or Single Treatments

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are investigating whether combining osteopathic manipulative medicine OMM and phototherapy provides better pain relief for people with chronic lower back pain than either treatment alone or standard medical care. Previous studies showed that both OMM and phototherapy can help reduce chronic low back pain, but no research has yet explored the potential enhanced benefit of using both together. This study aims to evaluate this combined effect to improve patient care. Participants are randomly assigned to one of four groups continuing standard medical care, receiving OMM treatment, receiving phototherapy, or receiving both OMM and phototherapy. Osteopathic physicians treat somatic dysfunction with OMM, while phototherapy uses low-level lasers cleared by the FDA for temporary pain relief. The study compares these approaches to understand their individual and combined impact on chronic lower back pain. During the 8-week study, participants will be assessed using a 10 cm visual analog scale for pain, the SF-36 Health Survey for quality of life, and the Oswestry Back Questionnaire for qualitative pain evaluation. The researchers will monitor pain levels and quality of life to measure treatment effects. Participants will follow their assigned treatments and attend scheduled evaluations throughout the study period, which runs until December 2025.

Efficacy of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) and Phototherapy for Patients With Chronic Lower Back Pain