Paracetamol ‘not effective in treating low back pain’

Paracetamol may not be an effective method of treating low back pain, according to a major new study from Australia.

Published in the Lancet, the Paracetamol for Low-Back Pain Study randomly assigned 1,652 individuals with acute low back pain from 235 primary care centres in Sydney to receive either paracetamol or a placebo.

It was found that the drug was no better than a sham treatment at speeding recovery from acute episodes of lower back pain or improving pain levels, function, sleep or quality of life.

This was the first large randomised trial to compare the effectiveness of paracetamol with placebo for low back pain. Further study may be needed to determine why paracetamol works for other pain states, but not back pain.

Lead author Dr Christopher Williams, from the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Sydney in Australia, said: "The results suggest we need to reconsider the universal recommendation to provide paracetamol as a first-line treatment for low-back pain."

Back pain is a common problem that affects most people at some point in their lives. It can be triggered by bad posture, bending awkwardly or lifting incorrectly.