Paracetamol as the first line of care for acute low back pain

Australian researchers warn in a study published in The Lancet that diclofenac and/or spinal manipulative therapy do not work for acute lower back pain patients, but paracetamol and keeping active are the best cures.

Source : "Assessment of diclofenac or spinal manipulative therapy, or both, in addition to recommended first-line treatment for acute low back pain: a randomised controlled trial" The Lancet, Volume 370, Issue 9599, p 1638-1643.

Acupuncture - best therapy for back pain

I learned from a mailing list that there was a large number of queries about a trial published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, September 2007.

It was a randomized and blinded trial conducted across 340 practices in Germany involving 1162 adults who had suffered from lower back pain for an average of 8 years. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: verum acupuncture, sham acupuncture or conventional therapy. After 6 months, nearly half of the patients receiving acupuncture treatment showed significant improvements in back pain compared to about one-quarter receiving conventional treatment.


The finding has led to acupuncture being adopted in Germany as a covered benefit for chronic lower back pain treatment under statutory health insurance plans.

Source: "German Acupuncture Trials (GERAC) for Chronic Low Back Pain - Randomized, Multicenter, Blinded, Parallel-Group Trial With 3 Groups , Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:1892-1898 (Sept 27)

Read previous post on "Alternative medicine in the US medical curriculm" and the cut back on using complementary therapies in the UK.