February 3, 2023 – Good news for those of us with lower back pain: Muscle relaxants and customary painkillers relieved lower back pain after one week of treatment, based on a latest study of greater than 3,000 people.
Acute low back pain is a standard reason behind disability worldwide and infrequently interferes with each day life, the study authors wrote, but concerns about opioids have led to further research into other options for pain management.
In an evaluation published in Journal of Orthopaedic ResearchA team of researchers from Germany investigated which non-opioid medications are best fitted to treatment.
The researchers found 18 studies with a complete of three,478 patients with acute back pain lasting lower than 12 weeks. The average age of patients in all studies was 42.5 years and 54% were women. The average duration of symptoms before treatment was 15.1 days.
Overall, muscle relaxants and customary pain relievers often called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) helped relieve pain and disability after about one week of use.
Ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen are all NSAIDs.
In addition, studies using a mix of those medications and paracetamol showed greater improvement than with NSAIDs alone, but paracetamol alone had no significant effect on back pain.
Most patients with acute lower back pain get better on their very own, so it's difficult to say how effective the drugs are, the researchers wrote.
However, it's important that other therapies without medication are tried first, the researchers said.
More research is required to find out whether the drugs help prevent back pain from returning, they said.
Study supports opioid alternatives
The study highlights effective alternatives to opioids in treating back pain, says Suman Pal, a hospitalist on the University of New Mexico.
Pal says he shouldn't be surprised by the outcomes. “The study's findings mirror previous studies,” he says. “However, the lack of benefit from paracetamol (acetaminophen) alone needs to be highlighted as important for clinical practice.”
The most significant message of the study, says Pal, is: “Patients with lower back pain should confer with their doctor about the very best treatment option.
During these conversations, patients should discuss their symptoms, medical history and medications they're currently taking, Pal says. “These factors should play a role in the choice of drug therapy, if needed.”
However, more research is required to find out more precisely which patients would profit most from pain relief provided by NSAIDs and muscle relaxants, as chronic use of NSAIDs carries its own potential for uncomfortable side effects, Pal says.