A drug increasingly being prescribed for treating sciatica has been revealed to be no better than placebo, in research recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers also found that people taking the drug pregabalin reported nearly twice as many adverse effects as those receiving the placebo reported.

The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends that doctors avoid prescribing drugs, especially narcotics, for patients with acute or subacute low back pain. Patients should be treated first with non-pharmaceutical therapies, such as superficial heat, massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation.

Patients with improper back position have movement control impairment. They often have difficulties in controlling the position of their back when sitting down, standing or doing back bending. Impaired movement control is often caused by an earlier episode of back pain and may result in chronic lower back pain. The situation is problematic because patients don’t realize that their incorrect back position is provoking pain.

Many patients live with low back pain that radiates to the buttock, groin, thigh, and even knees. The challenge for patients, and often their doctors, is determining the origin of the pain—the hip, the spine, or both. A new article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons outlines the identical symptoms associated with hip and spine pain and discusses the diagnostic steps and tests required to treat them appropriately.

New research shows that people with chronic low back pain have better results from yoga and physical therapy compared to reading evidence-based self-help materials. While this finding was consistent across many patient characteristics, a much larger effect was observed among those already taking pain medication to treat their condition and those who did not fear that exercise would make their back pain worse.

Winter recreational activities can pose painful problems for the outdoor enthusiast who is not in the best condition. Preparing your body before participating in winter sports such as snowboarding, skiing or ice-skating decreases the potential for spasms, strains and sprains, according to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA).

The American Chiropractic Association has announced that chiropractors nationwide will focus on helping people become more “Active and Adaptive” as they continue to adjust to lifestyle changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doctors of chiropractic are part of the essential critical infrastructure workforce, according to an advisory memorandum released by the u.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The memo aims to give state, local, tribal and territorial governments guidance as they consider what actions to take in their communities to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) while still maintaining critical industries and the workers who support them.

Before you dig into that blanket of newly fallen snow, take a few minutes to warm up. Take a brief walk around the house or march in place to get your body ready for the physical strain. Add arm movements and stretch your back to warm up the upper body. Here are a few more tips to help you stay healthy during shoveling season:

If you’re suffering from chronic lower back pain, a new review of existing research finds that spinal manipulation—the kind of hands-on regimen that a chiropractor might perform on you—is just as helpful as other frequently employed treatments, like pain killers. Spinal manipulation is also safe, researchers found.