Back Pain Treatments With Inconclusive Scientific Backing

With herbal remedies and alternative remedies for back pain competing almost effectively with modern medical science, it can be very easy to get caught up in the thinking that all treatments for back pain are effective. If you think that way, you could be devastated to discover that certain back pain treatments offer you little or no solace.

There are several back pain treatments that have little or no impact on the back pain sufferer; either because they have not been scientifically proven to have any effect or because they truly have no impact on the degree of back pain;

• Cold compresses: According to the Cochrane collection, cold compresses as a treatment for back pain is not entirely effective. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials conduced by this collaboration revealed that the evidence for the application of cold treatment to low back pain is limited. With a splattering of successes reported from back pain users who use cold compresses, it is difficult to ascertain its effectiveness.

• TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator): This treatment falls under the branch of electrotherapy and deals with the transmission of electrical impulses to interrupt pain signals being sent to the brain. The Cochrane collaboration once again researched this treatment by studying two randomized controlled trails. The result obtained was inconclusive because of the conflicting nature.

• Injections: Some back pain conditions are treated with the use of certain injections. These injections vary according to the location of the pain. The injections include epidural steroid injections and facet joint injections. This mode of treatment can only be effective if the specific point of pain is located and attended to.

• Inversion therapy: This treatment is hinged on the belief that friction between the back vertebras can be eased by hanging the patient upside down for a particular length of time. Adherents to this technique of treating back pain claim that a separation of the vertebras is obtained thus giving the patient some measure of relief. Again, this technique has no scientific backing.