Back Pain Archive

When your back is bothering you and you don't want to take prescription drugs, over-the-counter solutions and physical therapies can help relieve symptoms.

Spinal stenosis—narrowing of the spinal canal that increases pressure on spinal nerves—is a common source of lower back pain and weakness. Although many people assume that surgery to remove pressure on the nerves is the most effective way to bring relief, there is little evidence to support that assumption. A study reported in the April 7, 2015, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine indicates that physical therapy may be just as effective as back surgery in providing pain relief and enabling people to get around better.

For the study, 169 men and women with disabling spinal stenosis were randomly assigned to two groups—87 to have surgery and 82 to have intensive physical therapy. Two years later, both groups had similar results on physical function tests. However, 33 of the patients who underwent surgery had complications, usually requiring more surgery.

Each year, several million people with neck or back pain get injections of anti-inflammatory steroid medications. When they work (they don’t always), such injections can bring profound relief. But injecting these medications into the spine can cause partial or total paralysis, brain damage, stroke, and even death. Case reports beginning in 2002 highlighted serious problems linked to spinal steroid injections. In 2014, the FDA started requiring a warning on the labels of injectable steroids. A Viewpoint article in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association spotlights new safety recommendations to help prevent these rare but real problems. The new recommendations are part of the FDA’s Safe Use Initiative.

There's been a lot of research on what puts men at greater risk of back problems, like being overweight or sedentary. But we know less about what exactly triggers a bout of back pain. A new study in Arthritis Care and Research helps fill that gap.

The study involved 1,000 people who went to 300 different clinics in Australia with low back pain. The researchers carefully interviewed the participants to figure out when the back pain started and possible triggers they noticed within two hours of when the pain started.

Older adults with new back pain usually end up getting a CT scan or MRI. That’s often a waste of time and money and has little or no effect on the outcome, according to a new study from the University of Washington. The results of the study contradict current guidelines from the American College of Radiology. The guidelines say that it’s “appropriate” for doctors to order early MRIs for people ages 70 and older with new-onset back pain, and many doctors do just that. The study, which followed more than 5,200 men and women over the age of 65 who saw a primary care physician for a new bout of back pain, found that people who got early back scans did no better than those who didn’t have scans. The scans added about $1,400 per person to the overall cost of back pain care — with no measurable benefit.

It can reduce discomfort and get you back on your feet faster.