Tylenol also known as paracetamol or acetaminophen is commonly taken for lower back pain. It may be recommended for people who are unable to take non steroidal anti-inflammatory medication (NSAIDs) because of stomach irritation or risk of bleeding.
Is Tylenol an effective pain reliever for low back pain? Most likely not. It is important to remember that everyone responds differently to medication. I do see some people that say it helps decrease their low back pain. While Tylenol may be effective for some, research shows for most who take it that it is probably not effective at relieving lower back pain.
A 2016 review found that for low back pain lasting less than 6 weeks, “there is high-quality evidence that there is no difference between paracetamol (4 g per day) and placebo (sugar pill) at 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, or 12 weeks. There is high-quality evidence that paracetamol has no effect on quality of life, function, recovery, and sleep at any point in the study. We found that paracetamol does not produce better outcomes than placebo for people with acute low back pain, and it is uncertain if it has any effect on chronic low back pain.”1
A 2015 review in the British Medical Journal found “there was high quality evidence that paracetamol is ineffective for reducing pain intensity and disability or improving quality of life in people with low back pain. Paracetamol is ineffective in the treatment of low back pain and provides minimal short term benefit for people with osteoarthritis.”2
A 2019 study compared ibuprofen alone against ibuprofen plus acetaminophen in emergency department patients with low back pain. It found “adding acetaminophen to ibuprofen does not improve outcomes within 1 week.”3
Low back pain is mainly a movement related pain. The joints and/or the muscles of the spine, pelvis, or hips are not moving or supporting the lower back properly which can lead to irritation and pain. Low back pain typically responds better to movement based treatments. At Flynn Chiropractic we have treatments to get you moving and feeling better. We give you things you can do at home to help yourself improve. Many times people find they do not need as much pain medication or they are able to stop taking it altogether after chiropractic care.
If your pain medication is not working or you are tired of living on pain medication, give the office a call to see how we can help.
Sean Flynn, DC
Sioux City, IA Chiropractor
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27271789