Low Back Pain
What Is Low Back Pain?
- Back pain is a common problem and affects most of us during our lifetime
- Much of the time back pain is not a serious problem, and is usually caused by a simple strain to a muscle or ligament
- Being ACTIVE and EXERCISING will NOT make your back pain worse. Staying active will help you get better and taking painkillers can help you with this.
https://www.csp.org.uk/publications/10-things-you-need-know-about-your-back
https://www.southtees.nhs.uk/resources/10-back-facts/
https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/back-pain/
Managing an episode of Low Back pain
KEY MESSAGES
Keep moving:
- Movement will improve your pain
- Painkillers can help to get you moving
Recommended pain medication can be purchased from the Pharmacy:
- Topical anti-inflammatory (Eg. Voltarol/Ibuleve ) ± Paracetamol
- Oral Ibuprofen ± gastroprotective treatment (eg. Omeprazole/Lansoprazole)
- Co-Codamol 8/500 (If you have been advised by a GP not to take Ibuprofen for other health issues)
Clinical guidelines do not recommend the following for the management of acute low back pain:
- Benzodiazepines (eg. Diazepam) for the management of muscle spasm
- Strong Opioids (Tramadol, High Strength Codeine, Fentanyl, Morphine, Methadone, or Zomorph)
- Gabapentinoids (Gabapentin/Pregabalin)
Imaging
- Only 1% of back pain disorders are linked to serious pathology, like a cancer, a fracture or an inflammatory disorder
- Only 5% of back pain is linked to a disc prolapse which is causing nerve compression.
- That means that 94% of back pain has no diagnosis based on a scan.
- The problem created by highly sensitive MRI Scanners is that they pick up so called ‘abnormalities’ in almost everybody.