According to the American College of Physicians, physicians often prescribe pain medication as a first line of therapy for lower back pain. Now, the college's new guideline on lower back pain treatment encourages patients to try massage, yoga, exercise, acupuncture, and other similar therapies before reaching for a pain killer.
According to the guideline, being active and waiting it out might, in some cases, be all that's needed for the pain to go away. "For acute back pain, the analogy is to the common cold," spine researcher Rick Deyo, MD, MPH, said in an article published in February by the New York Times. "It is very common and very annoying when it happens. But most of the time, it will not result in anything major or serious."
Lower back pain is one of the most common reasons for physician visits in the U.S., according to the guideline published on February 14, 2017. "Low back pain is associated with high costs, including those related to healthcare and indirect costs from missed work or reduced productivity," researchers wrote in the guideline. They developed the guideline after reviewing studies on treating lower back pain.
Most patients with acute lower back pain improve over time, regardless of treatment. These patients should choose heat, massage, acupuncture, or other methods rather than painkillers. Patients with chronic lower back pain should first choose treatment involving exercise, acupuncture, mindfulness-based stress reduction, tai chi, yoga, biofeedback, and other nonmedicine-based therapies.
Patients with chronic lower back pain who haven't responded to nonmedication treatment should choose nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs first. Opioids should only be used if the potential benefits outweigh the risks for patients. A recent online blog on Spine-Health.com offered similar suggestions for treating lower back pain without using medication. Their recommendations include the following:
- Get aerobic exercise.
- Exercise the core.
- Receive massage therapy.
- Meditate.
- Address any sleep problems.
- Stretch hamstrings twice daily.
- Use heat or cold to soothe pain.
