Don't reach for pills for most chronic low back pain

Reuters—February 14, 2017

Reuters Health reporter Andrew Seaman writes on new guidelines recommended by the American College of Physicians for people with chronic low back pain.

The guidelines state that people should try non-drug treatment options like massage or stretching before choosing over-the-counter or prescription drugs.

"Anything you can do with these non-pharmaceuticals that can get you moving faster is going to get you better in the end," said Joel M. Press, MD,  physiatrist-in-chief at HSS. Dr. Press was not involved in crafting the new guidelines.

"I hope this reinforces to physicians and patients that a lot of these non-pharmaceutical treatments can have a lot of success," he added.

Read the full article at Reuters.com.