Relief for Aching Backs

 

About 80 percent of U.S. adults have at some point been bothered by back pain. The Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center recently surveyed more than 14,000 subscribers who had lower-back pain in the past year but had never had back surgery. More than half said pain severely limited their daily routine for a week or longer, and 88 percent said it recurred through the year. Many said the pain interfered with sleep, sex and efforts to maintain a healthy weight.

Back pain can be tough to treat. Most of the respondents had tried five or six different treatments. They rated the helpfulness of those treatments and their satisfaction with the health-care professionals they visited.

Hands-on therapies – chiropractic manipulation, massage and physical therapy – were among the top-rated. Read more