Oct 15, 2015 09:30 AM EDT By Rashmi Kalia, UniversityHerald Reporter

A recent study has found that physical therapy may only help patients who are suffering from back pain for a short period of time, UPI reports.

The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study found no great difference at one-year follow-up interviews between patients who did and did not receive the physiotherapy treatment.

Researchers suggest that even though early physical therapy can help patients with lower back pain, it was not more effective than allowing time for spontaneous recovery.

The researchers said that if the patients feel that they are being helped, it could alleviate the pain that the patients are feeling.

"We get into trouble and we do real potential harm to patients when we accelerate them down a pathway too rapidly and that can end in expensive, invasive procedures that patients really don't want when they start seeking care," Julie Fritz, associate dean for research in the College of Health at the University of Utah, told NPR.

"People who feel that they're being treated and cared for will improve a bit more rapidly regardless of what's actually being provided to them."

For the study, the researchers worked with 220 participants between March 2011 and November 2013. Of the total participants, 108 received physical therapy while 112 received usual care.

The results of the study revealed that patients who had undergone physical therapy experienced improvement in walking, moving and lifting things after three months of treatment. However, they still experienced the same level of pain as those who did not have physical therapy.

After one year, a follow up revealed that there was no clinical difference between the two groups.

Fritz also said that imaging, specialist referrals and opioid medications should only be considered by the patients if physical therapy does not help and if the patient is still experiencing difficulty, NPR reports.

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