Back Pain Health Center

Alternative Approaches to Low Back Pain

Have you ever had back pain? If so, you're not alone.  About 8 out of every 10 people have acute (sudden) or chronic (long-lasting) back pain at some point in their lives.

Most acute back pain goes away on its own, whether or not you treat it with medication or other therapies.

But sometimes it doesn't.

You might think that if you have chronic low back pain -- pain that lasts longer than about six to eight weeks -- that you'll need medication, surgery, or both to help get relief.

But there are dozens of alternative treatments for chronic back pain that don't involve taking medication or having an operation. And many of them are much more popular.

"Americans spend much more out of pocket for alternative pain therapies than they will for traditional treatments," says Barry Cole, MD, director of the American Society of Pain Educators. "People value these treatments enough to pay cash!"

Some alternative approaches to back pain are more established than others, and some have more scientific evidence supporting them. Here is an overview.

Physical Therapy for Back Pain

The right kind of physical therapy can often curb chronic back pain.

"When you visit a physical therapist, there are a number of things they might do," says Sam Moon, MD, MPH, of Duke Integrative Medicine, part of Duke University Medical Center. "They might use machines or traction, they might put you through stretching exercise, or they might use hands-on techniques."

Moon says the types of physical therapy shown to be most helpful for chronic back pain are hands-on soft tissue mobilization -- in which the therapist moves the soft tissues of your back -- and education about posture and home exercise.

Effective physical therapy should always include learning what to do at home -- and then doing it.

Getting physical therapy twice a week and then sitting in your usual bad posture, or avoiding exercise, won't help. Physical therapy should be goal-oriented and "shouldn't go on forever," Moon says.

Chiropractic/Spinal Manipulation

Doctors of chiropractic use their hands, and sometimes other tools, to manipulate the joints of the body -- particularly the spine -- to help relieve pain.

Studies have shown that chiropractics can be effective in relieving acute (sudden) and chronic back pain, although there's more evidence to support its use in acute back pain.

"Chiropractic is generally considered to be as good as physical therapy, and as good as patient education, in relieving back pain," Moon says. "And, like physical therapists, chiropractors can be very good educators about back health."

Just as with physical therapy, chiropractic care for back pain should involve learning exercises to do at home to strengthen your back, and treatments shouldn't go on forever.

"They should be teaching the patient how to take care of themselves," Moon says. "I won't write an open-ended prescription for chiropractic; generally, I think it should be done for a month or two before re-evaluating how the patient is doing."