Comparison of the effects of core stabilization trainings performed on land and in water in lumbar disc herniation patients

This study was performed to determine and compare the effects of Core Stabilization trainings performed on land and in water in lumbar disc herniation (LDH) patients. Twenty-three LDH patients (age: 47.78±13.20 years) and fifteen healthy controls (46.67±13.69) were included to the study. LDH patients were randomly divided into 2 groups as Core Stabilization (CS) or Water Specific Therapy (WST). The assessments for pain, flexibility, endurance of trunk muscles, functional status and quality of life were performed before and after treatment. The level of static endurance of trunk muscles was found lower in the LDH patients compared to the controls (p<0.05) at baseline. According to our results, while CS group showed improvements in pain, flexibility, static endurance of trunk muscles, modified push-ups, functional status, pain subarea and general quality of life (p<0.05); WST group showed improvements in pain, finger to toe test, sit and reach test, left lateral trunk flexion, static and dynamic endurance of trunk muscles, functional status and pain, physical abilities, sleep and general subareas of quality of life after treatment (p<0.05). When the two groups were compared, no differences were found in the amount of change (p>0.05) except the situps parameter which was in favor of the WST group (p<0.05). After the treatment static endurance of trunk muscles of LDH patients became similar to controls (p>0.05). According to these results, core stabilization training performed in water or on land (3 times a week/ 8-weeks) could be beneficial in LDH patients and there is no difference between methods (p>0.05).Keywords: Lumbar Disk Herniation, Core Stabilization, Water Specific Therapy