People with low back pain are better off taking paracetamol than anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen. This is apparent from a study on low back pain by Pepijn Roelofs, who will be awarded his doctorate tomorrow at the VU University Medical Center.
Anti-inflammatory drugs are the most prescribed medication (80 percent) for low back pain † Whether these also work better than paracetamol has been hardly studied until now. That is why Roelofs conducted a systematic literature study, among 65 studies with more than 11,000 patients, into the usefulness of anti-inflammatory painkillers.
Roelofs' research shows that painkillers have a comparable efficacy to paracetamol, but that paracetamol has fewer side effects † Yet the vast majority of people with low back pain use anti-inflammatories †
In his study of low back pain, Roelofs also focused on the professional group home care workers † Nearly two-thirds of them have back pain every year. His research showed that home care workers wearing a back belt wear, significantly less pain have. In addition, back belt users save an average of € 235 per year in healthcare costs.
