A new, long-lasting treatment for chronic low back pain — which affects 1 in 5 U.S. adults — may offer hope and relief to many. It’s called cognitive functional therapy, or CFT, and a recent study published in The Lancet Rheumatology reported that even participants with disabling pain enjoyed “sustained effects for three years” with regular CFT treatment sessions.
Cognitive functional therapy is a personalized approach designed to help people overcome chronic low back pain by addressing not only the physical aspects of pain, but also the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that can contribute to it. CFT works by helping individuals understand how their beliefs, habits, and movement patterns may influence their pain experience.
Through guided strategies, education, and movement practice, patients learn to move more freely and confidently, reduce fear and avoidance, and gradually return to their normal activities. This holistic method is tailored to each person’s unique needs, aiming for lasting pain relief and improved quality of life.
According to ABC News, the results of the recent RESTORE trial held in Australia showed that study participants reported fewer pain symptoms at the end of the study after taking part in only eight CFT sessions over six months compared to those who used other types of therapy.
CFT doesn’t use pills or surgery to provide relief but can be used in conjunction with other treatments to help patients overcome their fear of pain and stay more active, explained Mark Hancock, lead author of the study and a professor of physiotherapy at Macquarie University. His research focuses on the diagnosis and management of back pain.
The treatment was successful even in patients who had been suffering from back pain for years and had tried multiple treatments. Even in this group, a relatively short course of CFT led to impactful, lasting improvement. The researchers said that the shift in the patient’s mindset during treatment sessions was the underlying key to meaningful pain relief.
“There’s not many things that we can say that gives patients three years of relief after an intervention, so these results are quite encouraging,” said Dr. Rohan Jotwani, a board-certified pain medicine specialist and anesthesiologist at Och Spine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine.
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