Is lumbar lordosis related to LBP in prolonged standing?

This cross-sectional study examined the link between lumbar lordosis angle and the development of LBP in prolonged standing. They found that the subjects who developed LBP during prolonged standing had significantly larger lumbar lordosis than the subjects who did not develop LBP. Larger lordosis angles were linked to increased pain intensity.

Prolonged standing is known to provoke pain in certain people with LBP. Recent research has highlighted that a specific subgroup of LBP patients are more prone to developing LBP when standing, possibly due to the differences in spinal compression forces.

57 subjects (age 18 – 30 years old) who had never had treatment for LBP were recruited into the study, and their standing lumbar lordosis angles were recorded. The subjects were then asked to stand continuously for 2 hours and perform light tasks. 47% of the subjects reported some LBP during the standing tasks.

The researchers reported a significantly larger lumbar lordosis angle in the pain developers compared to the non-pain developers. There was also a direct relationship between the angle of lordosis and the pain intensity.

It is possible that in a certain subgroup of people, lumbar lordosis could predict development of LBP. Due to the narrow age range of the participants however, the results of this study should be interpreted with caution. 

> From: Sorensen et al., Man Ther 20 (2015) 553-557. All rights reserved to Elsevier Ltd. Click here for the Pubmed summary.