United States: The evidence from worldwide research has demonstrated that most back pain treatments fail to succeed, and the few successful approaches yield only minimal relief.
More about the news
The British population of adults experiences lower back pain to some degree during their lives at a rate of 60 percent.
A significant proportion of six out of every ten British adults faces back pain throughout their lives. Symptoms can include excruciating pain, restricted movement, inability to work, and reluctance to mix socially.
People who recover from back pain might do so within weeks, though several others must live with its chronic impact throughout multiple years.
Patients with lower back pain can access various treatment options, which may include painkillers in addition to acupuncture, stretching and massage, and anti-inflammatory drugs together with laser and light therapy and spine manipulation.
The many people who suffer from prolonged back pain receive minimal relief from traditional approaches since non-surgical treatment methods yield beneficial results only in 10% of cases.
Out of the 56 tested treatments, six provide small positive effects, but researchers designate these effects as “small.”
Most of the 50 analyzed treatments either fail to reduce pain, provide modest relief, or transform into detrimental outcomes for patients with back pain.
Based on the most extensive review of global evidence about non-surgical pain treatments for back pain, researchers have determined the outcomes.
What are the experts stating?
The research team at Neuroscience Research Australia under Dr Aidan Cashin performed a review of 301 randomized controlled trials from worldwide sources, which examined 56 different treatment methods or combinations, including anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants.
The internationally conducted trials took place in 44 nations spread across Europe and North America, with Asia included as another region.
According to the authors of the study, “The current evidence shows that one in 10 non-surgical and non-interventional treatments for low-back pain are efficacious, providing only small analgesic effects beyond placebo,” the Guardian reported.
The findings are published in the medical journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.
“The efficacy for the majority of treatments is uncertain. Our review did not find reliable evidence of large effects for any of the included treatments,” they continued.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) serve as the only effective treatment for patients suffering from acute low-back pain, according to their research.
Additionally, five treatment options provide relief for chronic low-back pain according to research: exercise stands among these treatments, together with spinal manipulative therapy, taping, and the medicinal use of antidepressants and the specific drugs known as transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TPRV1).