Backache: Paracetamol does not help

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MunichEveryone has a “back”: At least once in a lifetime, Germans suffer on average from lower back pain. Fast paracetamol - that's what people used to think. However, the pain reliever may not help at all. This is the result of an Australian study that compared the active ingredient with a placebo.

The team around Dr. Christopher Williams from the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Sydney examined 1,652 back pain patients. The participants were on average 45 years old and were randomly divided into three groups: some took paracetamol regularly over a period of four weeks, group two only for acute pain, and the remaining third received a placebo. After the therapy, the scientists kept an eye on the patients for another three months.

Relief after 17 days

The surprising result: the success of all three therapy methods was equally good - including that of the placebo. After an average of 17 days, the pain of an acute attack disappeared, regardless of the therapy the patient had enjoyed. Even in the short term, the pain reliever did not help any better than the placebo.Overall, patients who regularly took paracetamol also had no less pain, they were just as limited in everyday life and the active ingredient had no positive influence on sleep quality.

The cause remains in the dark

"The use of paracetamol as the first choice for back pain needs to be reconsidered," says William, summarizing his study results. Colleagues Bart Koes and Wendy Enthoven from the University Medical Center in Rotterdam write in a comment: The results of the study are clear, but further research is necessary to change the treatment guidelines for back pain. “Why paracetamol helps against other pain, but ineffective Appears to be back pain, Williams and colleagues cannot answer yet.

With movement against the back

Back pain is a widespread disease, but in 90 percent of the cases there is no serious illness behind it. The triggers are often in the workplace. Strong mechanical and psychological stress in everyday work can lead to pain. You can do something yourself against back pain: for example through regular sport, because a lack of exercise is another main trigger for the cross with the cross. (away)

Source: Williams C. et al .: Efficacy of paracetamol for acute low-back pain: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, The Lancet, July 24, 2014.

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