Ineffective painkillers, costly surgery and MRI scans are dished out too readily when prevention and exercise-led solutions could help people keep functioning and aid recovery, experts say.
A series of papers published in The Lancet lays bare the nation’s growing back pain epidemic and called for a new approach.
Medics warned that all too often patients with back pain are pointlessly being handed painkillers or other interventions that do not work.
Treating the resulting chronic conditions is costing the health service more than £2billion a year.
And the overall cost to society – when days of work lost and informal care are factored in – is an eye-watering £10.7billion.
Professor Nadine Foster of Keele University, lead author of one of the papers, said: “Painkillers that have limited positive effect are routinely prescribed for low back pain, with very little emphasis on evidence-based interventions such as exercises.
“We need to redirect funding away from ineffective or harmful tests and treatments and towards approaches that promote physical activity and function.
“We also need to intensify further research of promising new approaches such as redesigning patient pathways of care and interventions that support people to function and stay at work.”
Co-author Professor Martin Underwood, of Warwick University, said: “Our current treatment approaches are failing to reduce the burden of back pain disability; we need to change the way we approach back pain treatment in the UK.”
Professor Rachelle Buchbinder, of Monash University, Australia, added: “The majority of cases of low back pain respond to simple physical and psychological therapies that keep people active and enable them to stay at work.”
Low back pain affects at least four out of five people at some point in their lives.
About one in five people develops chronic low back pain lasting a year or more.
UK Statistics Authority figures showed that workers aged 25-64 lost about 9.95 million working days due to back pain in 2014.
Welcoming the findings, Steve Tolan, head of practice at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy said: “So many people start out with minor back pain and go on to suffer life-changing consequences.
“This landmark series of articles must prompt some serious reflection among professionals and decision-makers to ensure that when people seek help what they receive is effective, proportionate and, above all, empowering.”
