Back Pain? Muscle Relaxants & Opioids Do No Good

It’s been a very bad year for back pain research. Several studies published this year have revealed that the leading pharmaceutical choice for back pain, Tylenol (acetaminophen), has no benefit but significant side effects. And now a new study has shown that even the stronger drugs commonly prescribed for back pain are ineffective. . . .

This double-blind studyof 323 people with lower back pain gave them either the NSAID naproxen plus a placebo, naproxen plus the muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine or naproxen plus the opioid oxycodone and acetaminophen. The researchers wanted to see if the stronger drugs provided any additional benefit.

But adding neither the cyclobenzaprine nor the oxycodone/acetaminophen to the naproxen produced any benefit at all.

JAMA 2015;314:1572-80