BMJ  2004;329:1402 (11 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7479.1402-a

Letter

Physiotherapy compared with advice for low back pain

Study supports concept of self management of pain...

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—As a qualified physiotherapist with postgraduate training in manipulative therapy, I believe that physiotherapists, chiropractors, and osteopaths should stop squabbling and appreciate that each discipline is valuable in its own right.^{1 2}

The study by Frost et al comparing physiotherapy with advice for low back pain confirms what most therapists already know: it is extremely difficult to effectively manage chronic low back pain.³ In the study 77% of patients would be categorised as having chronic back pain, 35% of them having had pain for a year or more.

NHS physiotherapists are often frustrated trying to help this group of patients. General practitioners commonly manage early back pain with advice, exercises, analgesia, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. If this approach fails the next step is usually referral to a physiotherapist, chiropractor, or osteopath. If this treatment fails to "cure" the problem, what then? Consultants are rightly reluctant to intervene in all . . . [Full text of this article]

Maldon and South Chelmsford Primary Care Trust, St Peter's Hospital, Maldon CM9 6EG dan@x-wing.fsnet.co.uk

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Randomised controlled trial of physiotherapy compared with advice for low back pain

Helen Frost, Sarah E Lamb, Helen A Doll, Patricia Taffe Carver, and Sarah Stewart-Brown
BMJ 2004 329: 708. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]