Before you take paracetamol for your lower back pain, read this article first! This article talks about a recent study done in Sydney that looked at how well paracetamol helps lower back pain. Even though paracetamol is often recommended for lower back pain, a new study shows that it doesn’t help.
So, you might be looking for answers to a lot of your questions about lower back pain.
What makes lower back pain go away?
Why do I have pain in my low back?
Will the pain in my lower back go away on its own?
All of these are questions that people who have back pain often ask. There is a lot of confusion about why so many people have back pain and what can be done to help them feel better. If you’ve ever wondered about these things, we can tell you what to do.
Do you want to hear the good news first or the bad?
LOWER BACK PAIN – THE BAD NEWS
When it comes to lower back pain, the bad news is that many of the common treatments may not work as well as thought at first.
This means that painkillers like paracetamol may not help you get better or make the pain go away very much. Also, stronger opioids like oxycodone and codeine don’t help much with back pain, and they have serious side effects like addiction and accidental overdose.
You only have to look at the accidental overdose report to see how much damage these legally prescribed drugs are doing to our community. The report points out some alarming facts, such as:
- More and more people are dying from overdoses.
- Strong pharmaceutical painkillers, among other things, are linked to the rise in overdose deaths.
- Most drug-related deaths and accidental overdoses are caused by legal prescription drugs, not illegal drugs.
- The Guardian says that other common ways to treat lower back pain, like invasive surgery and injections, may also be doing more harm than good.
THE GOOD NEWS ON BACK PAIN
The good news is that many people with lower back pain do get the help they need and can get better. Let’s look at a study about how well paracetamol works for acute low-back pain.
The study starts with a note that is worrying:
“Regular paracetamol is the first-choice painkiller for acute low-back pain, but there isn’t any good evidence to back this up.”
THE RESEARCH
The Australian study, which was published in the Lancet, found that the painkiller paracetamol didn’t help lower back pain any more than a placebo.
THE WORKING GROUP
The Sydney study group was made up of 1,652 adults who were in a lot of pain in their lower backs. In general, they were 45 years old.
During the study, the people who took part were given either paracetamol three times a day for four weeks or a sugar pill (placebo) (a placebo was given to deceive the recipient into thinking that it is was paracetamol).
STUDY RESULTS
This is what the study found about how long it takes to get better:
It took 17 days for the paracetamol group to get better.
It took 16 days for the placebo group to feel better.
There wasn’t much difference between the outcomes.
Also, the painkillers did not help with short-term pain, sleep, or overall quality of life.
STUDY MAIN POINT
“Our results suggest that regular or as-needed doses of paracetamol do not affect the time it takes to get better from low-back pain compared to a placebo. This calls into question the widespread use of paracetamol in this patient group.”
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR LOWER BACK HURTS INSTEAD OF TAKING PARACETAMOL?
Christine Lin, an associate professor at the George Institute for Global Health and one of the main authors of this study, said that people with back pain should avoid bed rest, stay as active as possible, use hot or cold packs (depending on the type and location of the pain), and think about getting chiropractic care.
Based on the results of this study, we should think twice before taking another pill for lower back pain.
You have to weigh the pros and cons and make a decision based on what’s best for you.
You have to think about:
“Would you be better off with other options if the drug isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do or if you’re worried about taking it for a long time?”
Also, why would taking pills every day do anything to fix the real causes of back pain? Not at all. For the kinds of back pain we help people with most often, the real cause needs to be found and fixed. If you don’t treat the cause, you can only cover up the symptoms.
Your symptoms are just the tip of the iceberg. To find out what’s wrong, we need to look deeper. We’ll be able to help you better after that, which is what you want, right?
Many people in our community choose to take care of their health in a more natural way. This could include ways to improve health and wellness without using drugs and better ways to live to avoid many of the health problems we face every day.
Most of the time, chiropractors help with lower back pain, and we do this without drugs or surgery. Get in touch with Form and Function Corrective Chiropractic right away to learn more about how we can help with lower back pain and other issues.
GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CHIROPRACTIC
People often think that chiropractors only treat back pain. Chiropractic may be a good way to deal with your lower back pain, but it can also help you with a lot of other things.
Some common health problems that chiropractors might be able to help with are:
Back pain
Headaches
Hip pain
Joint pain
Migraine and headache pains
Several injuries from sports
Sciatica and pain in the nerves
Poor posture
Help after car accidents
When pregnant, back pain can happen
Contact our team today to learn more about any of these health problems and how we may be able to help.
