For treating acute lower back pain, there s strong evidence paracetamol simply does not work.
It comes as no surprise to some pain sufferers. Sister Mary-Lynne Cochrane says paracetamol does nothing for her back pain.
A million paracetamol are prescribed to Kiwis each day - and that s just the prescribed ones.
Many more are bought off the shelf.
Professor Chris Maher from the Australian Institute of Musculoskeletal Health says people should be careful when they take it. If there are other options, go with the other options. For back pain don t bother taking it.
But don t ditch your paracetamol just yet.