If you have already had trouble recovering from a bad back, you are far from alone. This week’s study revealed that only about 10% of the common back pain treatments seem to provide notable relief, and barely.
Scientists in Australia have led research, published Tuesday in medicine based on BMJ evidence. The researchers analyzed the data of hundreds of clinical trials testing dozens of remedies against back pain and found that only a few seemed really more effective than placebo. These treatments, which include exercise or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), probably provide only a small advantage on average.
Back pain, especially low back pain, are one of the most common and frustrating afflictions that are humanity today. Almost everyone will experience low back pain at least once in their life. Approximately 10% of the world’s population Currently On a painful back, while around 40% Adults in the United States have had back pain in the past three months.
Most episodes of back pain disappear over time, but about 10% We think that Americans have chronic or recurring back pain. Almost all cases of back pain is not specific, which means that there is no clearly identifiable disease or structural reason to explain it.
Anyone who has treated repeated episodes of back pain probably knows the long list of supposed remedies – and the frequency they do not seem to work. The researchers aimed to perform the most extensive review of these non-invasive and non-surgical treatments, using study data considered as the Order of Medical evidence: randomized and placebo-controlled clinical trials.
All in all, they reviewed 301 trials covering 56 different treatments or treatment combinations for pain in the lower back non -specific or chronic back.
“We have been motivated to make this review because non -surgical and non -invasive approaches are recommended as an initial processing approach. But many options of this type are available, and it is not always easy to know which are effective, “said study, study of neuroscience Research, Gizmodo.
Cashin and his team found that only NSAIDs seemed effective on the placebo for acute back pain, while five seemed to work for chronic back pain. It was: exercise, vertebral manipulation (which is often associated with chiropractors, but can be carried out by physiotherapists or osteopaths), registrationantidepressants, and a class of drugs that reduce our sensitivity to pain called TRPV1 agonists (The main ingredient responsible for the burning sensation of a pepper, capsaicin, is one of these agonists). The other treatments that did not reach the success threshold included cannabinoids, muscle relaxants, opioids, acupuncture and dry cuts.
Unfortunately, even the most efficient remedies were quite poor. The researchers had only a moderate certainty in the data supporting one of these treatments, and their overall efficiency was considered to be modest.
“Current evidence shows that a non-surgical and non-interventional treatment out of 10 for low back pain is effective, providing only small analgesic effects beyond placebo,” they wrote.
Now, it is certainly possible that some people undergo a substantial relief from one of these therapies, or that some will benefit from a treatment that does not work well for many others (this journalist knows someone who has undergone net relief from their back pain after taking muscle relaxants, for example). Some treatments can also provide a large relief, but have not been tested in fairly large and well -designed studies that can demonstrate their potential. Many treatments included in the exam have only data of a single small trial (less than 100 people) to be assessed, for example. And there are other remedies commonly praised for back pain that have never been tested in placebo -controlled tests. Researchers therefore call for more high quality studies on existing back pain treatments to fill the missing data shortcomings.
That said, there is not really a foolproof and very effective healing for back pain widely available at the moment (this includes surgery) – A reality that the researchers themselves recognize.
“Many treatments studied try to target a single potential contribution factor which can partly explain why, on average, many treatments were not effective.
At the same time, he notes, there is an emerging wave of new treatments that have shown a certain promise by approaching multiple back motors and other types of chronic pain, such as Pain reprocessing therapy And Racketeering sensorimotor classified. And it is possible that these targeted and future treatments are able to provide significant and supported advantages to people with chronic back pain, he said.
Speaking personally as a person who is regularly treated with low back pain for years, exercise and a stretch routine seem to help me keep him in check most of the time. But as the millions of people suffering, I hope that these breakthroughs will eventually become powerful options for this often boring, sometimes aggravating condition.