09 413 5312
Elevate Chiropractic
  • Home
  • Services
    • Acute Pain & Injury Care
    • Good Posture
  • About Us
  • Blog
    • FAQs
  • Contact Us

New Research: Paracetamol is no better than placebo for acute low back pain!

11/9/2014

1 Comment

 
If you are unfortunate enough to develop acute back pain, what do you do first to help ease the discomfort? Do you grab some pain relief? Do you ice it? Do you do some stretches? Or do you go to your chiropractor for an assessment? There are lots of options!

If you are a person who regularly takes paracetamol for back pain, you may not be getting the results you want according to some new research that was published recently in The Lancet.  This research was the first large randomised trial to compare the effectiveness of paracetamol with placebo for low back pain, they found that paracetamol is no better than placebo at speeding recovery from acute episodes of lower back pain or improving pain levels, function, sleep or quality of life. The findings question the universal endorsement of paracetamol as the first choice painkiller for low-back pain, say the authors.  Continue reading to find out more about the research and a different, natural approach to back pain.
The research was performed in Sydney, Australia and was called The Paracetamol for Low-Back Pain Study (PACE).  For the research, 1652 people (average age 45) with acute low-back pain from 235 primary care centres were randomly assigned to receive up to 4 weeks of paracetamol in regular doses (3x day; equivalent to 3900mg per day), paracetamol as needed (maximum 4000mg per day), or a placebo.  All participants received advice and reassurance and were followed up for 3 months.  

The results showed that there were no difference between the treatment groups.  The median time to recovery was 17 days in the regular group, 17 days in the as-needed group and 16 days in the placebo group. Interestingly, the results also showed that paracetamol had no effect on short-term pain levels, disability, function, sleep quality or quality of life.

"Simple analgesics such as paracetamol might not be of primary importance in the management of acute lower back pain," said lead author Dr Christopher Williams from the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Sydney in Australia. "The results suggest we need to reconsider the universal recommendation to provide  paracetamol as a first-line treatment for low-back pain, although understanding why paracetamol works for other pain states but not low-back pain would help direct future treatments." He adds, "In view of the quick timeframe in which
participants in our trial improved compared with other cohorts, it would be interesting to see whether advice and reassurance (as provided in our trial) might be a more effective than pharmacological strategies for acute episodes of
low-back pain."

So this brings me to the question, what do you do if you have low back pain? As a chiropractor, if someone presents to me with low back pain, my approach is to figure out why the problem has occurred and start to correct it. Of course, we also need to look at the pain and how we can ease it. Medication is required on some occasions, but it is often used too much and too easily. You need to ask yourself: 
  • Are there certain natural things you can do help reduce the pain?
  • Do you use ice or heat? (Read my other blog posts on this topic)
  • Are there certain exercises or stretches that need to be done to reduce the discomfort? 
  • What ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) need to be modified to reduce aggravation and improve recovery
What will work best will depend on the individual and the type of injury.  For example, if there is a disc bulge causing back pain, some commonly used stretches can actually make the problem worse rather than help it. That is why I recommend a proper assessment for someone that has back pain.  There is no one size fits all treatment program. 

The next key aspect that I focus on from a rehabilitation point of view is, how can we get the problem fixed and more stable so as to reduce the risk of future problems?  You see the number one risk factor for future pain is previous pain! If you have had problems in the past you are likely to get them again.  Unless of course you alter something and make positive changes.

This is what I love doing, helping people by improving spinal function and stability to not only reduce the current discomfort, but also help reduce the risk of future problems. Prevention is much better than cure!

Reference
  • Christopher M Williams, Christopher G Maher, Jane Latimer, Andrew J McLachlan, Mark J Hancock, Richard O Day, Chung-Wei Christine Lin. Efficacy of paracetamol for acute low-back pain: a double-blind, randomised controlled trial.The Lancet, 2014
  • www.sciencedaily.com
1 Comment
liana link
19/10/2022 12:40:04 am

thanks for info

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Dr Craig Buscomb

    Bringing you news, research and advice on health, wellness, exercise and chiropractic care to help take your health to the next level

    Picture
    book now

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    Categories

    All
    6 Week Challenge
    Air Purifier
    Archetypal Postures
    Athritis
    Back Brace
    Back Pain
    Balance
    Barefoot
    Blood Pressure
    Body Hacks
    Brain Development
    Brain Function
    Breathing
    Cervicogenic Headaches
    Children
    Chiropractic Care
    Chiropractic Research
    Clicking Joints
    Computer Setup
    Concussion
    Core Exercise
    Crawling
    Cryotherapy
    Diaphragmatic Breathing
    Disc Herniation
    Disc Injury
    Dizziness
    Dr Craig Buscomb
    Elderly
    Elevate Chiropractic Clinic
    Ergonomics
    Exercise
    Eyesight
    Eyestrain
    Fall Risk
    FAQs
    Fatigue
    Feet
    Fidgeting
    Flexibility
    Foam Roller
    Foot Function
    Foot Pain
    Free Spine Checks
    Functional Movement
    Gardening
    Gift Ideas
    Goals
    Grip Strength
    Grounding
    Habits
    Hanging
    Headaches
    Headbanging
    Health
    Heat Therapy
    Hip Arthritis
    Hip Hinge
    Hip-Hinge
    Hip Pain
    Hip Test
    Hugging
    Hypermobility
    Ice
    Joint Cracking
    Kneeling
    Knee Pain
    Leg Pain
    Lifting
    Lifting Technique
    Low Back Pain
    Lower Back
    Lower Back Pain
    Massage
    Massage Ball
    Meditation
    Mid Back
    Migraine
    Mirgrane
    Mobility
    Movement
    Music
    Myofascial Release
    NEAT
    Neck Pain
    Neck Stretches
    Neuroplasticity
    New Year's Resolutions
    Nocebo Affect
    Non-Exercise Movement
    Novelty
    Office Chairs
    Osteoporosis
    Overweight
    Pediatric Care
    Performance
    Physical Activity
    Pillows
    Piriformis Syndrome
    Placebo Effect
    Plants
    Posture
    Posture Brace
    Power Poses
    Rehabilitation
    Rest
    RICE
    Risk Of Dying
    Schoolbag
    Sciatica
    Sciatic Nerve
    Seniors
    Shoes
    Shoulder
    Shoulder Pain
    Sickness
    Sitting
    Sitting Positions
    Sleep
    Sleeping
    Soft Tissue Release
    Sport
    Sports Performance
    Stability
    Static Back Position
    Stress
    Stretches
    Stretching
    Studying
    Surgery
    Teenagers
    Tension Headaches
    Testimonials
    Text Neck
    Tongue Positions
    TV
    Upper Back Pain
    Upper Cross Syndrome
    Vertigo
    Walking
    Warning Signs
    Water
    Weightloss
    Wellness
    What To Expect
    Work Breaks
    Yoga

    RSS Feed

    Contact Us
    Services
    About Us
    It's what you do everyday that impacts your health, not what you do sometimes.

Let us keep you updated with our newsletter

Quick Links

Home
Services
About Us
Blog
Contact Us
Privacy and Confidentiality

Contact Us

Shop 1, 10 Greenhithe Road
Greenhithe, Auckland 0632
P: 09 413 5312
M: 027 975 4104
E: [email protected]
Submit once, a confirmation email will be sent to you.
© Elevate Chiropractic  2014 | Website developed by Outbox Ltd