New study shows paracetamol may be ‘ineffective’ in treating lower back pain

Lower back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide.

In Australia, it chews up $4.8 billion of our nation’s health budget.

Paracetamol has been the number one drug prescribed for treating lower back pain, but its effectiveness is now in doubt.

Australian researchers behind a new study gave some patients a placebo and some paracetamol.

“Paracetamol has been found to be effective for some acute pain conditions, such as tooth pain, acute post-surgical pain and headache but in this case it’s not effective for acute back pain,” Associate Professor Christine Lin said.

Dale Torrence has lived with crippling back pain for the past 30 years, managing it has become part of her daily life.

“Getting in and out of the car to drive, just doing things like walking the dogs, trying to do housework,” she said.