The prescriptively applied non-thrust manipulation will be involve a central lumbar posterior-anterior directed at L4 and L5. "The therapist will place the hypothenar eminence of 1 hand over the spinous process of L4. With the elbows remaining extended, the therapist will deliver a low-velocity, high amplitude oscillatory force (at approximately 2 Hz) directed at L4 for a total 60 seconds (Figure 1)". Following a 30-second rest the therapist will perform a similar set of oscillations directed at L5. A second set of oscillations will then be performed in a similar manner at L4 and L5. Patients will be seen for 4 visits.

The pragmatically applied non-thrust manipulation will be based on the original concepts outlined by Maitland and will of consist of passive, low velocity, oscillatory movements within the physiological range of the joint, applied to the comparable spinal level of the patient (defined as the spinal level that reproduced the patient's familiar pain). The techniques will be modified based on clinician assessment and patient feedback and consist of Grade I through Grade IV movements. Since the pragmatic approach is clinician-driven, no time limit will be placed on the application and the number of mobilizations used will depend on the patient feedback (the exact definition of a pragmatic treatment). Patients will be seen for 4 visits.

The therapist will place the hypothenar eminence of 1 hand over the spinous process of L4. With the elbows remaining extended, the therapist will deliver a low-velocity, high amplitude oscillatory force (at approximately 2 Hz) directed at L4 for a total 60 seconds (Figure 1)". Following a 30-second rest the therapist will perform a similar set of oscillations directed at L5. A second set of oscillations will then be performed in a similar manner at L4 and L5. Although not described in the original article, we'll target Grade III mobilizations. The procedure will be completed during a session after 2 sets of 60 seconds of non-thrust oscillatory manipulations will be performed over L4 and L5." Patients will be seen for 4 visits.

The Modified Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) will be used to measure disability, will serve as the primary outcome measure for the study, and consists of 10 questions each scored from 0 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater disability. A 50% reduction in the ODI or greater from baseline has been considered a clinically important outcome

The PASS is the state beyond which patients consider their state as acceptable and are unlikely to seek further treatment. Thus, therapeutic success can be defined at the individual level (i.e., for each patient) as an improvement greater than minimum clinically acceptable score, or as achieving a state acceptable at the end of the care. For our study, recovery is defined as a "yes" (patients consider their state as acceptable) on the PASS at discharge.