Paracetamol 'doesn't work' for lower back pain

Conclusion This was a well-designed double-blind RCT to assess the effectiveness of paracetamol for acute low back pain. Attempts were made to account for any confounding factors and there was good follow-up, with analysis provided for 97% of participants. However, as the authors point out, this study had some limitations – for example, those taking part did not typically take the full recommended dose of paracetamol; and also, some used other treatments during the study period. It is also interesting to note that the severity of acute low back pain people were experiencing was not sufficient to cause anyone to have time off work. And very few required additional “as required” medication and only up to 1% took any of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, naproxen. This suggests the results of this study might not be applicable to people with more severe acute low back pain, who may not respond to a placebo treatment in the same way. Overall, however, this was a well-designed trial and the results are likely to be reliable. Why paracetamol may help with other types of moderate or severe pain – such as tooth extraction – but possibly not with low back pain, is uncertain. As the authors say, further research is required on the effectiveness of paracetamol for low back pain before any changes are considered to existing guidelines. Back pain is common and can be distressing, but in most cases it is not serious and usually gets better within 12 weeks. Encourag...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Source Type: news