Abstract:Objective To observe the efficacy of exercise therapy combined with pulsed short wave (PSW) in the treatment of athletes with chronic low back pain (CLBP) to provide reference for the treatment and prevention of CLBP in the future. Methods From December 2012 to February 2014, 30 CLBP athletes engaged in synchronized swimming, weightlifting and badminton from Beijing, Sichuan and Shanghai were selected for a retrospective analysis. The exercise therapy combined with PSW treatment was conducted in all CLBP athletes. After 8 weeks of treatment, lumbar pain, muscle strength and lumbar stability were evaluated. The improvement of lumbar function, the lumbar muscle strength and the stability of lumbar spine were respectively evaluated by Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA), Biodex system Ⅲ isokinetic dynamometer at an angular speed of 60°/s and White standard. Results Compared with those before treatment, the peak torque (PT) and peak torque to body weight (PT/BW) of trunk extensor muscle were significantly increased after 8 weeks of treatment (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in PT and PT/BW of trunk flexors muscle (P>0.05). Lumbar X-ray showed a decreasing trend of L_3-4 and L_4-5 lateral displacement after therapy, but there was no significant difference between pro-and post-treatment(P>0.05). The JOA score of athletes with waist pain was significantly higher than that before treatment (P<0.01), and the effective rate was 83.3%. Conclusion Exercise therapy combined with PSW treatment can improve the strength of trunk flexor and extensor muscle, especially the trunk extensor muscle strength and enhance the stability of spine, so as to obviously improve the symptoms of athletes with CLBP.