Dorothy Goodin | Feb 12, 2017

Little support for common painkillers to ease backache

Recent reviews of common medications intended to alleviate back pain suggest that not only are they largely ineffective, but they also might cause gastrointestinal issues.

One review examined nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) including aspirin, Advil and Aleve, while an earlier study considered the effects of Tylenol (acetaminophen). Both concluded that none of the medications are particularly effective for back pain. The researchers said roughly one of six people taking an NSAID might benefit from it.

"Patients should discuss with their doctors whether they should take these drugs, considering the small benefits they offer and likelihood of adverse effects," Gustavo Machado, author of the NSAID review, said. Machado is a research fellow at the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, Australia.

Machado said that people who took NSAIDs were also more than twice as likely to suffer from gastrointestinal side effects than those who took inactive placebos.

Dr. Benjamin Friedman, an associate professor of emergency medicine at New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, said that even though he recommends the medications, they might be even more ineffective than the review suggests. He said other methods to alleviate back pain might be more beneficial.

"The happiest back pain patients I know are the ones who have found relief with some type of complementary therapy such as yoga, massage or stretching,” Friedman said.

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