A recent World Health Organization (WHO) bulletin (2019) highlighted care for low back pain. The bulletin identifies certain treatments as consistently recommended in international guidelines, while others were consistently NOT recommended. 

For early low back pain, “advice to remain active, education on the benign nature of low back pain and reassurance about the absence of serious pathology” were universally recommended. 

In cases where treatment was required for low back pain, physical therapies (like spinal manipulation and massage), psychological therapies, or complimentary therapies (like acupuncture) were identified as good strategies.

Conversely, the bulletin highlights that care for low back pain without medication is preferred, particularly avoiding opioid medications where possible, and that use of injectable steroids, surgery, and routine spinal imaging (like X-rays and MRIs) were not recommended.  

The Takeaway: early management of low back pain is ideally guided by encouraging activity, patient education and reassurance, and where treatment is required, conservative non-pharmacological therapies like spinal manipulation, massage, and acupuncture are good treatment options. 

#chiropractic #lowbackpain #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

Find the bulletin here: http://bit.ly/wholbp