Posted on 03/25/2025 3:46:35 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Only around one in 10 common non-surgical and non-invasive treatments for lower back pain are effective, suggests a pooled data analysis.
And the pain relief they offer is only marginally better than that achieved with a placebo.
Low back pain is common and debilitating, and 80–90% of it is categorized as non-specific, because there's no immediately identifiable cause.
A total of 301 trials investigating 56 different treatments or treatment combinations were included in the pooled data analysis.
The most common interventions were NSAIDs (27 trials), opioids (26 trials), laser and light therapy (25), acupuncture (24), and gentle manual therapy (mobilization; 19 trials).
Fifty-two trials sampled participants with acute low back pain; 228 trials with chronic low back pain; and 21 trial participants with both types.
Of the 69 treatment comparisons included in the trials, the certainty of the evidence was moderate for 11 (16%), low for 25 (36%), and very low for 33 (48%), as assessed by the GRADE system.
The pooled data analysis showed that compared with placebo, no non-pharmacological treatments and only NSAIDs emerged as effective for acute low back pain; exercise, spinal manipulation, and taping, antidepressants and drugs that target pain receptors (TRPV1 agonists) emerged as effective for chronic low back pain.
But the effects were small.
Moderate quality evidence showed that treatments for acute low back pain that weren't effective included exercise, steroid injections and paracetamol, while anesthetics (i.e. Lidocaine) and antibiotics weren't effective for chronic low back pain, the analysis showed.
The evidence was inconclusive for 10 non-pharmacological and 10 pharmacological treatments for acute low back pain. It was also inconclusive for a wide range of 22 non-pharmacological treatments, including acupuncture, massage, osteopathy and TENS, and 16 pharmacological treatments, including antidepressants + paracetamol, complementary medicines, bisphosphonates, and muscle relaxants for chronic back pain.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
We've never met, but I had very successful back surgery 12 years ago. Ruptured, collapsed, disc, severe pain. Now I am pain free thanks to lower back surgery and I had nerve damage in my back due to polio as a child which caused additional lifelong pain. You just have to be very careful lifting anything.
bump for later
I had a laminectomy in 1997. It was HIGHLY effective.
But, I broke my back in 2010. Lots of pain. Then, in 2013, a freeper as an off-hand comment mentioned this book: Healing Back Pain, by John E. Sarno. Prayerfully, I followed the steps in that book and on March 20, 2018, in an instant, my back pain completely disappeared. I credit God and He worked through Sarno’s book.
“He told me to do cheater sit-ups (the ones where you have your knees bent) twice a day,”
That also worked for me. 50 scissor kicks while lying on my back and then 20 crunches, twice a day. The problem is that when the pain is controlled I do more lifting, which tends to bring the pain back, but it’s worth it to be able to put 50 pound bags in the trunk again.
An inversion table worked for my lumbar pain. First use I went straight to vertical. Felt good. I twisted around for a bit, then Pop!. Severe pain and numbness. Couldn’t stand or walk. An hour later I was fine and lifelong lumbar pain was gone. Hasn’t returned since.
Physical therapy has been a Godsend for me.
As long as I keep it up.
And I do.
bttt
I had pretty severe lower backpain - good physio therapist and a set of exercises sorted it right out. It took time and consistency, and I have to keep up the exercise... but it worked.
Total bull shit article.
I can draw attention to hundreds of studies that show the Mckenzie Method is a very effective mode of treatment first back pain.
Anyone with common sense would know that general exercise is not going to heal most back pain.
Just returned from ‘minimally invasive’ back surgery. They went in to remove scar tissue from a prior surgery to give a nerve more room to function. I’ve been numb on the R side since a VA surgery 2 years ago. The minimally invasive surgery was the fix. Two surgeries and $15K later I can walk normal again. I can also feel my R arm and leg fully again and they’re warm instead of cold. Hopefully be able to drive at night even.
bttt
I’ve been thru 2 spinal surgeries since being sideswiped by a drunk driver in 1989. I was ejected by from the vehicle.
First was one was by a couple of Iranian quacks that skipped the country to escape Medicare fraud charges.
Second one was by a so-called prominent neurosurgeon that turned out to be self-prescribing drug addict that eventually lost everything and get this-is now a practicing medical malpractice attorney.
Neither surgery helped in any measurable way.
Between these and Fauci, I now trust no one in the medical field and avoid them all like the plague.
Simple idea that actually worked for me: stop using the back pocket of your pants. My wallet was causing me to sit unevenly and this would eventually lead to back pain. Switching to a front pocket wallet solved it.
Not the short term stuff where you pulled a muscle because that rototiller is going in the truck whether it wants to or not but the long term, my back hurts every day, stuff.
It can take about a week before it starts coming together and sometimes it actually hurts worse for a while but it will get better.
I do that for that same reason, too!
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