Staying active 'good for back pain'

Back pain is blamed for large numbers of people taking long-term sick leave from work. The condition is estimated to affect 2.5 million people in the UK and costs the country almost £10 billion in lost production each year.

This week the Arthritis Research Campaign (ARC) called for a change in attitudes towards back pain, which it described as "one of the great scourges of the 21st century".

The ARC added that current medical advice and research states that people with back pain should stay as mobile and active as possible, but that many patients and some health workers believed that exercise would make back pain worse.

Vicious circle

The campaign body said it was hoping to dispel this myth during its current annual awareness week. The charity is also spending more than £2 million on research into back pain, including several clinical trials around the UK to find out the most effective types of exercise and manipulation to treat the condition.

Duncan Critchley, a research physiotherapist at King's College London, said: "Although a bad back is painful, it usually doesn't mean that it's anything serious.

"There is often a mismatch between how painful it is and how serious the condition is in most cases. And because your back hurts doesn't mean that movement and exercise is doing further damage.

"In fact, the opposite is true - the less exercise you do, the muscles in the back become weak and the worse it will get, so it spirals into a vicious circle."

Further advice

The ARC said that staying mobile would help to prevent an attack of back pain becoming long-term. It added that when the condition becomes chronic, many sufferers can lose confidence, cut down on their usual activities and become depressed and anxious.

The charity said it was known that people who were depressed had a lower pain threshold and were in particular need of support.

Studies have shown that exercise and manipulation can be helpful for people with back pain, but it is not yet known what specific exercises are best, which is what researchers now hope to discover.

A free booklet dealing with back pain, including advice on exercises, is available by calling the ARC on 01246 541 106 or emailing info@arc.org.uk.