Can mindfulness help ease back pain?

Each year, 10m working days are lost due to backache. So could mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) play a part in reducing that figure?

When I was a junior doctor, I dreaded the back pain clinic. You had a few minutes with each patient to talk through their months of debilitating pain. There was little to offer in terms of relief. Fast forward and back pain is only getting worse. A report from the University of Washington in Seattle found that while people live longer, they feel healthy for fewer years because of backache. So what can help relieve pain and reduce the annual 10m days lost from work each year in the UK due to backache?

It depends on the cause, but exercise, spinal manipulation and painkillers such as codeine (a weak opiod) and paracetamol are often recommended. Taking opiods for years can make people dependent and invariably causes constipation. Guidance from Nice, which is being updated, also recommends cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) – training to change how people think and behave when they have pain, which is notoriously hard to come by.

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from Health & wellbeing | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1X0nGlC
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