What’s the Bottom Line?
What do we know about the effectiveness of complementary health approaches for low-back pain?
- There’s low- or moderate-quality evidence that a variety of mind and body practices, including acupuncture, electromyography biofeedback, low-level laser therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, progressive muscle relaxation, spinal manipulation, tai chi, and yoga, may be helpful for chronic low-back pain.
- There’s low-quality evidence that acupuncture, massage therapy, and spinal manipulation may be helpful for acute low-back pain.
- Preparations of the herb cayenne, used topically, may help to relieve low-back pain.
What do we know about the safety of complementary health approaches for low-back pain?
- The mind and body practices mentioned above (acupuncture, electromyography biofeedback, low-level laser therapy, massage therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, progressive muscle relaxation, spinal manipulation, tai chi, and yoga) have good safety records when used appropriately. However, that doesn’t mean that they’re risk-free for everyone. Your health and special circumstances (such as pregnancy) may affect the safety of these approaches.
- If you’re considering natural products such as oral or topical herbal products, remember that natural doesn’t always mean safe and that some natural products may have side effects or interact with medications.
Some Basics About Low-Back Pain
Low-back pain is a very common problem in the United States and around the world. About 80 percent of adults have low-back pain at some point in their lives. It’s the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed work days and visits to physicians.Most episodes of low-back pain last only a short period of time. Health professionals call this acute low-back pain. Acute low-back pain is often defined as pain that lasts for up to 4 weeks. In most cases, acute low-back pain goes away without causing any lasting problems.
