Treatments That Provide No Benefits
Patients should be aware of and avoid approaches that are not helpful. In some cases, these approaches may even be harmful for acute low back pain.
- Bed rest for low back pain, including most cases of sciatica, does not help and may even make the condition worse. Long-term bed rest results in loss of muscle tone, decreased bone strength, increases susceptibility to blood clots, and depression.
- Intense exercise and physical activity, particularly heavy lifting and trunk twisting, should be avoided during acute back pain.
- Acupuncture has not proven to have any value for acute low back pain in most patients, but may provide some help for patients with chronic low back pain.
- Permanent bipolar magnets (magnet therapies) have gained some popularity as a non-invasive method of relieving pain. No studies support such claims. It should be noted that magnets can deactivate heart devices and must be kept at least six inches away from pacemakers or implantable cardioverter defibrillators.
Previous Section
