THURSDAY, May 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Persistent use of steroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen to treat acute lower back pain may actually turn it into a chronic condition, a new study warns.
However, some experts who expressed concerns about the study published in the journalĀ Science Translational MedicineĀ pointed out that it was not a clinical trial, which is the gold standard for medical research,Ā The New York TimesĀ reported.
The findings by the team at McGill University in Montreal are based on observations of patients, an analysis of a large patient database and an animal study.
The study results suggest we “need to think further about how to treat our patients,ā lead investigator Dr. Luda Diatchenko, a professor who specializes in human pain genetics, told theĀ Times.
Back pain is the mostĀ common type of pain, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The research is āintriguing, but requires further study,ā Dr. Steven Atlas, director of primary care practice-based research and quality improvement at Massachusetts General Hospital, told theĀ Times.
That opinion was echoed by Dr. Bruce Vrooman, a pain specialist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire. But Vrooman also told theĀ TimesĀ that the study was āimpressive in its scopeā and added that if the findings hold up in a clinical trial, it could āforce reconsideration of how we treat acute pain.”
The study represents a “paradigm shift,” Dr. Thomas Buchheit, director of the regenerative pain therapies program at Duke University, told theĀ Times.
āThere is this unspoken rule: If it hurts, take an anti-inflammatory, and if it still hurts, put a steroid on it,ā he said. But this study shows that āwe have to think of healing, and not suppression of inflammation.ā
CurrentĀ guidelinesĀ advise people with back pain to begin with exercise, physical therapy, heat or massage, which can be as effective as pain medications but don’t cause the same side effects.
If those approaches don’t work, patients can try NSAIDs like ibuprofen, the guidelines advise. Acetaminophen (best known as Tylenol) is not an anti-inflammatory.
More information
Visit the National Library of Medicine for more onĀ back pain.