Common treatments for low back pain: have they been proven effective?

Abstract

The etiology of low back pain can be complex and the specific etiologies are rarely separated for investigation. There continues to be no single clinically proven superior treatment for low back pain. This may explain the multiplicity of treatments available. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the different forms of treatment for low back pain, treatment outcome and effectiveness. Nine more common treatments for low back pain are described. The long term effectiveness of the procedures reviewed in this article for the treatment of low back pain remains doubtful. For the majority of patients with complaints of low back surgery is not indicated. For those patients who have neurological deficits and a documented lesion, surgery can be an immediate and appropriate treatment. The conventional treatment for low back pain continues to be the triad of rest, analgesic medication and perhaps exercise after the acute phase of low back pain. None of the other treatment options evaluated in this review were consistently shown to be more effective than this traditional triad treatment course.