Due to excessive effort at the lower back, there is a high incidence of low-back pain among garbage collectors. This study assessed the efficacy of a technique of muscle energy with post-contraction relaxation to reduce pain among garbage collectors with acute mechanical low-back pain, also assessing the impact of the technique onto muscle movement width. Subjects with acute low-back pain were selected among workers at a garbage collection company. Thirty subjects were found and submitted to muscle length tests for erector spinae longuissimus, biceps femoris, semimenbranosus, semitendinosus, piriformis and quadratus lumborium; among them, 28 complied to inclusion criteria and were divided into two groups; the test group was treated by the muscle energy technique and the control group was treated with TENS. The pain analogical visual scale was used to assess pain intensity before and after the application of the technique. Muscle length tests were again made after therapy. Data analised by descriptive statistics show significant pain reduction in test group subjects, who also showed significant movement width increase in the muscle groups semitendinosus right and left and right quadratus lumborium. There was no correlation between pain reduction and increase in movement width. Thus the muscle energy technique with post-contraction relaxation proved efficient to reduce mechanical acute low-back pain of garbage collectors, mainly in the cases with severe pain and spasms.

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