Easing low back pain by treating the mind

CHICAGO, Ill. (WPVI) -- To relieve pain in the lower back, it might be better to go through the mind.

A study with 300 adults showed that those using mindfulness meditation or cognitive behavioral therapy - a form of psychotherapy - had more improvement in pain and function, than those using conventional means, including medications and chiropractors.

And the relief lasted up to a year.

Although there have been past studies showing cognitive therapy helped back pain, mindfulness meditation hadn't been studied before.

The meditation programmed lasted 8 weeks.

The study was reported in this week's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.