Effects of Acupuncture, Core-stability Exercises, and Treadmill Walking Exercises in Treating a Patient with Postsurgical Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Clinical Case Report

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of acupuncture, core-stability exercises, and treadmill 12-minute walking exercises in treating patients with postsurgical lumbar disc herniation. A 34-year-old woman with a history lumbar disc prolapse who had undergone lumbar disc surgery on two different occasions was treated using acupuncture, core-stability exercises, and treadmill walking exercises three times per week for 12 weeks. The outcome measures used in this study were pain intensity, spinal range of movement, and general health. After 12 weeks of treatment, the patient had made improvement in terms of pain, which was reduced from 9/10 to 1/10. In a similar vein, the patient's general health showed improvement of >100% after 12 weeks of treatment. Pre-treatment scores of spinal flexion and left-side flexion, which measured 20 cm and 12 cm, respectively, increased to 25 cm and 16 cm after 12 weeks of treatment. This study showed that acupuncture, core-stability exercises, and treadmill walking exercises were useful in relieving pain, increasing spinal range of movement, and improving the health of a patient with postsurgical lumbar disc herniation.