How long does back pain last and what treatments are effective?

“When will this pain go away?”

If you've ever experienced back pain for no apparent reason, you may have wondered:

Although this condition is a leading cause of disability, it is often difficult to determine why the pain occurs, as 90% of back pain cases are not related to disease or physical injury.

This makes it difficult to know how long it will take to double.

A team of Australian researchers is working to understand when people feel safe.

They say we need to reconsider the idea that most people with new onset back pain get better within two weeks.

They also suggest that outcomes for people with chronic low back pain are not as rosy as previously thought.

Symptoms are likely to be relieved after 6 or 12 weeks

Lower back pain can feel like a dull ache or a sharp pain that can radiate to other parts of your body, such as your legs.

It can be caused by conditions such as a broken bone, muscle strain, or arthritis, but most of the time it's completely unexplained or, in medical terms, non-specific.

By analyzing approximately 20,000 people around the worldResearchers at the University of South Australia found that 70 per cent of people with acute non-specific low back pain recover within six weeks.

About 70 percent of people who still have pain after 6 weeks will see improvement after another 6 weeks. This means that approximately 90% of people improved after 3 months with her.

“Thus, while most low back pain resolves on its own, we may never know why it started,” said lead researcher Lorimer Moseley, professor of clinical neuroscience. RN Health Report.

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But for those who still have pain after three months, this is not so pretty.

The researchers found that these people often still had moderate to severe pain and disability at 12 months, but noted that there is limited data available on this.

“Once you have chronic back pain, it tends to last for a long time,” says Professor Moseley.

“After three months, the recovery rate is much lower.”

But Professor Moseley says it is still not possible to predict with certainty who will and will not recover after six weeks.

“But we know there are things that can change your chances of recovery.”

Why some people develop chronic pain

Age and gender may increase risk, with older women more likely to progress from acute back pain to chronic back pain.

The same is true if you come from a non-English speaking background or have a lower socio-economic status.

Other risk factors may include:

• High levels of fear or anxiety about feeling pain
• Low self-efficacy (belief that one can achieve desired results)
• Stressful life events around the time this condition begins
• depression
• heavy weight

But Christopher Maher, director of the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, says these predictors aren't always reliable and are mostly things people can't change about themselves.

“So it's better to look at what we can control.”

lower back pain treatment

If you have acute lower back pain —It can last from a few days to up to three months— The best advice is to avoid bed rest and keep moving.

Professor Maher recommends seeing a doctor to rule out the possibility of a fracture, but most people will be told to gradually return to normal activities and use heat to relieve symptoms.

If your symptoms do not improve after a few weeks, we recommend seeing a physical therapist.

However, in the case of chronic low back pain, treatment often involves not only the body but also the mind.

If you've ever had lower back pain, you may have found yourself saying to someone, “Oh, I lost my lower back.''

However, Professor Moseley says this mindset needs to change, as back pain is often not associated with a physical injury or medical condition.

Wrongly believing that you have sustained some kind of anatomical injury, such as a slipped disc, can make you afraid to move and lead to negative thoughts about your recovery.

And research shows that anticipating pain can increase the perceived intensity of pain.

Sensorimotor retraining focuses on pain education and improving the sense of touch: how to accurately identify physical touch.

Chronic pain can make it difficult to pinpoint exactly where on your back someone is touching you, but improving this can improve information processing between your back and your brain. can.

This is important because most people with chronic pain have what is called pain system hypersensitivity. The nervous system senses pain even in harmless situations.

Two clinical trials on low back pain conducted in Australia, solve and Restore He has researched sensorimotor retraining and a similar treatment called cognitive therapy with positive results.

In the Restore trial, people who received 12 weekly clinical sessions with physical therapists trained in cognitive functional therapy (CFT) had significantly less pain and disability than those who received standard physical therapy sessions. I found out that it was done.

More than 80% of participants reported being satisfied with their CFT treatment.

Making new treatments a reality

Professor Moseley said effective interventions exist, but they just aren't reaching the people who need them.

Part of the reason, he says, is a lack of physical therapists trained in how to deliver these programs.