(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It's estimated that up to 80 percent of adults experience lower back pain. Now, a new study shows a special physical therapy method is a successful treatment for those with chronic back pain caused by disc disease.

The method is called Souchard's global postural re-education. Therapists work with patients to stretch and strengthen their abdominal and paraspinal muscles -- the muscles running along the spine. They give support and are the motor for movement of the spine. These muscles can become weak because of stress and under or over-use. The specially designed therapy can relieve back pain by correcting the patient's posture and decompression of the spinal canal.

"These results are exciting," says neurologist Conrado Estol, M.D., Ph.D., of the Neurologic Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation in Buenos Aires, Argentina, "because other treatments for severe and chronic back pain have limited or no benefit, and the pain rarely goes away on its own."

Researchers studied 102 people with severe back pain over a two-year period. All attempted to treat their back pain with other methods, including regular physical therapy, acupuncture, and epidural injections.

The study treatment included two physical therapy sessions during the first week, then a session once a week for the next five months. Patients were also given directions for at-home exercises.

Of the 102 study participants, 92 reported significant improvement. For 85 percent, the improvement could be felt after just three weeks of treatment. After an average of almost two years, the pain has not reoccurred in those people.

SOURCE: American Academy of Neurology's 57th Annual Meeting in Miami Beach, Fla., April 9-16, 2005