Bed Rest
Do not recommend or use bed rest as a treatment
for simple back pain.
The aim is to use symptomatic measures to control
pain to let patients return to normal activity as rapidly as
possible and to minimise bed rest. Some patients may initially be
confined to bed as a consequence of their pain but this should not
be considered as a treatment.
Short periods of bed rest are commonly used to
treat disc prolapse, but there is little evidence that this is
effective treatment.
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For acute or
recurrent LBP with or without referred leg pain, bed rest for
2-7 days is worse than placebo or ordinary activity. It is not
as effective as the alternative treatments to which it has
been compared for relief of pain, rate of recovery, return to
daily activities and days lost from work. |
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Prolonged bed rest
may lead to debilitation, chronic disability and increasing
difficulty in rehabilitation. |
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