Finding the Culprit to Lower Back Pain in Dr. Mitchell’s Lab

Photo by Kylee Brown

Lower back pain affects around 39 percent of US adults and about 8.2 percent of them have chronic severe back pain. While some treatments exist, few get to the root cause. As both a physical therapist and professor, Dr. Ulrike Mitchell conducts studies to discover methods and techniques to decrease lower back pain by studying the muscles and intervertebral discs of the lower back.

“I like to treat people with chronic low back pain,” shared Mitchell, “Everybody presents differently although many people present with similar symptoms and most of them have different causes for their low back pain. It's a tricky area to treat. We're trying to get clinical information to possibly find a culprit for low back pain.”

One of Mitchell’s studies looks at the muscles on MRI images to see how the attachment of the muscle leads to ability, disability, or pain. When the muscle in question attaches to the spine incorrectly, it could possibly explain some of the pain. Mitchell and the students in her lab asses the images of 150 individuals with low back pain and 150 without. If they find that those who have muscle attachment issues also have pain, then they know they’ve found a possible cause and can recommend appropriate treatment options.

Photo by Kylee Brown

In conjunction with mechanical engineering professors Dr. Anton Bowden and Dr. David Fullwood, Mitchell is working on sensors that can pick up movement patterns unique to those with low back pain. The study will first have people move with sensors on their back without simulated pain. Then, after temporarily inducing pain through injection of a saline solution, the sensor will track the movements performed with pain. The study would inform on both movement changes and the sensor viability. This device could be used in clinical settings to track movements of those with low back pain and provide treatment advice on posture changes.

Mitchell also conducted a study to determine how running affects the spine using a DEXA, which is a multiple x-ray device that measures bone density and body composition. Mitchell’s previous studies found that daily long-distance running is associated with better intervertebral disc health. However, Mitchell found that the benefits decrease when runners don’t take rests in between sessions, thereby decreasing the positive benefits. “I found out that if you run, you give the bone stimulation to produce more bone,” said Mitchell. “But if you don't give the bone rest after you stimulate it, it cannot catch up with the demand. The bone density will actually go down.”

Outside of her research, Mitchell enjoys working with the students and the creative ideas they share. “I don't see myself as only a teacher,” she stated, “I see myself as giving students the basic information, and then they bless me with all their ideas and with solutions I never thought about. It's awesome because they just have a different angle or view than I do.”

Photo by Kylee Brown

One of Mitchell’s students, Kassity Clay (EXSC MS ‘26), went to Hungary with Mitchell to aid a fellow student researcher. Clay is grateful for the research acumen she has gained under Mitchell’s tutelage. “I think Dr. Mitchell is awesome to work with because she is very personable and she's also very intellectually minded,” said Clay. “She's the type of person where, if you have something bigger that happens in your life, you want to share it with her because she's going to be happy with you.”

Working with those who face chronic low back pain allows Mitchell opportunities to incorporate spiritual lessons as she mentors students. “I think about the wonder and miracle of how we can live without pain,” enthused Mitchell. “If something is dysfunctional or has a problem, we can, through exercise or mobilization, make it work again. That's the greatest testament of science and faith. We're made in the image of God, and even if something is thrown out or is injured, we can help heal and become perfect again.”

If you want to join Mitchell in her lab, you can email her at rike_mitchell@byu.edu or visit her office at 268 SFH.