Effective Treatments for Lower Back Pain Identified

A new study conducted by researchers from Germany has found that muscle relaxants and common pain relievers give relief to those with lower back pain after a week of treatment. The study examined 3,478 participants and found that the average age of the patients across all the studies was 42.5 years, with 54% being women. The average length of symptoms before treatment was 15.1 days. The researchers found that NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen helped reduce pain and disability after about 1 week of use, and that a combination of these drugs and acetaminophen showed more improvement than NSAIDs alone. However, acetaminophen alone had no significant impact on LBP. The study authors concluded that other therapies should be tried first before medication and more research is needed to see if the drugs help prevent back from returning. Suman Pal, specialist in hospital medicine at the University of New Mexico, says the study highlights effective alternatives to opioids for back pain management and emphasizes the importance of talking to a doctor about the best approach to treatment. While the study found relief from pain after a week of treatment, more research is needed to better identify which patients would get the most benefit from NSAIDs and muscle relaxants to manage their pain.