Back pain, and what actually helps

Back pain is close to universal, which is why so much is said about it and so little of that is specific. The useful part is short.

Movement beats rest

• Prolonged bed rest tends to make ordinary back pain worse rather than better. Staying gently active, within what the pain allows, is the general advice.
• That does not mean pushing through severe pain. It means not stopping entirely.

What tends to help

• Continuing normal activity as far as possible.
• A structured exercise programme, particularly once the acute phase has passed.
• Attention to how you sit and for how long, which matters more for desk workers than most people expect.
• Weight, sleep and general fitness, all unglamorous and all of which show up in outcomes.

What is often oversold

• Passive treatments alone, with no active component.
• Repeated scans in the absence of new symptoms.
• Long-term reliance on painkillers without a plan for what happens next.

When to have it assessed

• Pain that has not improved at all after six weeks, pain that wakes you consistently, pain travelling down the leg below the knee, or any of the urgent signs covered in the spinal injury article.