New guidelines for lower back pain

New guidelines from the American College of Physicians recommend non drug therapies as the first line of treatment to relieve acute, subacute and chronic lower back pain.

The new guidelines recommend that people with acute or subacute back pain use superficial heat, acupuncture, massage or spinal manipulation.  For those with chronic back pain initial recommendations include exercise, tai chi, yoga, relaxation and mindfulness based stress reduction techniques. 

The new guidelines follow a review of randomised controlled trials and other reviews.  The report recommends that drugs should not be considered until other non pharmacological methods have been tried first.